Fan Falls 12 Feet

Fan drops 12 feet from upper level
Man passes out, falls over railing, rushed to local hospital
By B.J. Rains / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS -- A 34-year-old fan passed out and fell over an upper-deck railing and onto two fans seated about 12 feet below during the first inning of Friday night's Cardinals-Twins game at Busch Stadium and was immediately taken to a local St. Louis hospital.

The fan, identified by a friend as Chris Hoffman of O'Fallon, Ill., was seated in the front row of section 454 when he apparently passed out during the National Anthem and fell over the railing. Hoffman landed on two Cardinals fans seated in section 354, about 10-12 feet below, who were unharmed but visibly shaken.

Emergency crews rushed to the scene and found him with his head down near the pavement and his feet still dangled over the seats in the row behind him. He was seen moving his arm but his face was badly cut and covered in blood. After he was attended to for about 10 minutes, Hoffman was strapped to a stretcher and taken immediately to a local hospital.

The National Weather Service issued a severe heat warning for St. Louis for the entire weekend as temperatures reached 96 degrees on Friday and were expected to reach 99 on Saturday.

The Cardinals were asked by the city of St. Louis to move Saturday and Sunday's day games to night games because of the heat and its potential danger to fans, but the Cardinals were unable to switch the times on that short of notice. No other information about Hoffman's condition was available.


B.J. Rains is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.