A circus performer was rushed to hospital after falling 5 metres (16ft) from a tightrope in front of a horrified audience in England.
The unidentified performer was seen on video sitting on the back of a chair that was on a pole held by two men standing on a tightrope at a Gravity Circus performance at Glye Gap Field in East Sussex on Monday.
As he slowly lowered himself to a sitting position, balancing his feet on the railing of the chair, the pole began to wobble.
As he fell onto the seat, his foot seemed to slip and he fell off the apparatus along with the chair.
Halfway there, the chair hit what appears to be a cable, knocking her over and causing her to do a backflip in free fall until she hit the ground knees first.
The force of the impact caused his upper body to spin until he finally landed in a fetal position on the metal floor and appeared to be unconscious.
The woman suffered “serious” but non-life-threatening injuries after falling from a chair during a Gravity Circus performance.
Gravity Circus told a fan in their comments section that the artist was “doing fine.”
“Her leg looked like it was going to buckle. She lost her balance and went flying, wrapped in the wire,” said witness Hayley Welsh. BBC‘He crashed into the metal floor.’
The woman suffered “serious” but non-life-threatening injuries, according to the South East Coast Ambulance Service (Seacamb). People.
Gravity Circus told a fan in their comments section that the artist was “doing well and was in good hands.”
Seacamb said she suffered “facial and other injuries consistent with a fall” and was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, according to People.
The woman appeared to have been knocked unconscious after hitting the metal floor following the 16-foot fall.
The woman was part of Colombia’s High Wire Troupe, according to Gravity Circus.
The company acknowledged that in live entertainment “accidents can unfortunately happen despite strict safety measures,” the BBC reported.
“Our primary concern is for the well-being of the artist, his family, the tightrope company and our entire circus family,” he said. “We are closely monitoring the situation and conducting a thorough investigation.”
His upcoming performances are planned as scheduled and Gravity Circus plans to provide an update on the artist soon.