Source: WMCTV.com
A TNA crew worker died last night after falling 15-20 feet while disassembling the metal stage that was used for Slammiversary. According to WMC-TV in Memphis, the crew member was working on scaffolding, which collapsed. The incident occurred shortly after the event went off the air.
Local police and fire department workers arrived quickly and the TNA employee was was rushed to Baptist DeSoto hospital in Southaven, Mississippi. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe and he died at the hospital.
Another TNA crew worker lost his thumb in the scaffold collapse but is expected to recover. The names of the men involved in the incident have not yet been released to the public.
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I was there when It happened, also I was one of the Stage Hands that put up the stage at Memphis. I no longer work for the company (Performance Staging Inc.) who put up the stage. I saw him fall when the truss somehow swayed and watched him jump off the truss, so he wouldn’t get mangled up in the mess of truss arches. I and a fellow stage hand from the same company were taking down a camera riser at the time. As soon as he hit the cement floor; everybody rushed to see if he was ok; when I got there he wasn’t moving, and a pool of blood was starting to form. All I heard was people screaming “CALL 911, CALL 911” and people crying. I was about 10 feet away from his feet; I just froze. Within minutes the ambulance crew arived tried to revive him. After awhile, they put him in the ambulance and rushed out of the arena. By that time; the guy who broke his thumb was already in route to the hospital. After 30 minutes the police started putting up “DO NOT CROSS POLICE” tape around our stage. My co-worker and I looked at eachother and wondered if we could get our stage taken down that night. Come to find out we did end up taking our stage down that night. Once our truck was loaded; we helped the lighting company take their gear down. We didn’t get back to our hotel until 3 or 4 a.m. I didn’t really know him. I just met him at that event for the first time. Really nice, and polite. He will always be remembered.
-Leo Ygeal Jr.- -Performance Staging Inc.-