24-year-old Bird Piché said she suffered “a catastrophic spinal cord injury” when a punk rock singer jumped off the stage to crowdsurf and landed on her.
Piché said the incident unfolded at the Trophy Eyes concert at Mohawk Place in Buffalo, April 30,according to NBC News. She said frontman John Floreani leaped backward into the audience, and collided with her. The young fan was rushed to the hospital where doctors told her she was paralyzed.
“When you hear about these types of injuries, they’re obviously very serious, so I didn’t expect to have any recovery,” Piché said in an interview from her hospital bed.
“We were even worried she wasn’t going to make it,” Piché’s mother, Amy Leigh Flaminio, told NBC News.
The concert was halted after the incident, and Piché was rushed to the hospital, according to NBC News. Floreani rode in the ambulance with her, the outlet noted.
Piché told the outlet she never lost consciousness after the incident.
“It was, like, his body and my neck,” she said, according to NBC. “It was a crowd-surfing thing.”
She also described her injuries, and explained the involuntary movements her body has been exhibiting.
“So my legs, it’s involuntary, have been kicking a lot lately. I can’t control it,” Piché told NBC.
https://t.co/mzqqCkgidR pic.twitter.com/vY9OPl6CcJ
— Trophy Eyes (@trophyeyesmusic) May 3, 2024
Piché went on to explain that she was seeing signs of improvement and that her recovery is proceeding better than expected. “My arms, they’re — besides my hand dexterity — almost fully there. My fingers don’t have full movement,” she said, according to the outlet.
Piché has regained some use of her arms as well as some leg function, but reported that she did not have full use of her hands and toes, according to NBC News. She also told the outlet she had regained her gross motor skills, but was struggling with the fine motor skills required to achieve basic daily tasks.
“Nothing is certain, obviously, but they are predicting l will have full recovery of everything,” she said, according to NBC. “I have a long road ahead, but I’m very optimistic right now.”
Piché also said she wasn’t surprised that the punk band engaged in crowdsurfing.
“It’s pretty typical at these kinds of shows,” she told the outlet.
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“I didn’t really know what to expect, but I definitely didn’t expect to be in a hospital after the concert,” she told NBC News.
The band posted a social media message shortly after the incident, saying that the “situation has shaken us all to our core.” Trophy Eyes also linked to a GoFundMe page that was established to aid in their injured fan’s recovery and issued a $5,000 donation on behalf of the band. As of press time, the page has raised just over $71,000 of the $100,000 goal. (RELATED: ‘I Wish I Hadn’t Seen The Video’: Mother Of Man Injured At Harry Styles Concert Speaks Out About Her Son’s Injuries)
Piché and her family declined to comment on whether or not they would pursue civil action, according to NBC News.
