A 20-foot fall from a ballpark railing killed a fan at a Texas Rangers game on Thursday, all because he tried to catch a foul ball.
A 39-year-old firefighter, Shannon Stone, was enjoying the game with his son when he lost his balance and flipped over the railing after catching the foul ball. The ball was thrown to him by outfielder, Josh Hamilton, in the second inning of the game.
The team president, Nolan Ryan, made a statement after the game saying, “As an organization, and as our team members and our staff, we’re very heavy-hearted about this and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family”.
Stone, a lieutenant for 18 years in Brownwood, fell in an area that was not visible from the field, but Ryan noted that the entire team, including Hamilton, was, “very distraught over this” explained the Associated Press.
The fan was alert after his tremendous fall but an hour after the incident he passed away at Forth Worth Hospital. Stone fell head first even as other fans attempted to help him as they saw him fall. Stone’s son was up in the stands by himself and after his fall Stone asked the paramedics to check on him.
This is not the first fall from the Ranger’s stadium. On July 9, 2010 another firefighter, Tyler Morris, also fell from a railing attempting to do the same thing. Morris fell 30-feet but luckily survived with a fractured skull and sprained ankle.
Morris later described the incident as a, “100 percent, total accident that could have happened to anybody,” according to the Associated Press.
This is the second fatal accident at a ballpark this year. In May a fan fell 20-feet after attempting to slide down a railing at a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field.
With Associated Press
