When you’re attending a sports game for your favorite team, you’re aiming to enjoy yourself. You would never expect that there could be danger lurking around the corner. Unfortunately, for one man in Pennsylvania, a stadium fall spelled disaster for him. And now, he’s got a long road ahead of him to recover. The man who experienced it is speaking out about the incident and what he will be facing along the way.
Kavan Markwood was attending a baseball game in Pittsburgh, where he was cheering on the Pirates and Cubs. In a distressing video, Kavan endured an astounding fall of 21 feet onto the ground below. The recording of the moment shows Kavan jumping up in the air in joy as he celebrated a play. As he does so, he hits his abdomen off of the railing in the stadium and falls over.
As a result of the incident, team members and others looked on in worry as others rushed to help Kavan. The game was delayed for 10 minutes, which is how long it took to initially treat Kavan. He was then rushed off the field, on his way to a hospital.
Kavan was placed in the intensive care unit and put on a breathing machine at Allegheny General Hospital. Luckily, he’s off the breathing machine, out of intensive care, and working towards physical therapy. He just started walking for the first time since the incident and is sharing his experience.
The 20-year-old former college football player spoke of the accident, “I can’t really sleep. I have a lot of back pain,” which is to be expected, as he sustained not only a brain injury but also broke various bones and hurt his spine, both lungs, and his skull. From being in critical condition to now walking in a matter of days, his recovery is amazing. A chief officer with the hospital commented, “Youth is your friend” when it comes to enduring these types of injuries.
Kavan was even able to joke in an interview, “I think when I get home, I’ll just put ice on it.” This is the type of spirit we should all have when overcoming what was thought to be the impossible. Kavan has endured a catastrophic experience that he will always live with, but his strides thus far have been amazing. This is especially possible with a great medical team!
