Fan in Critical Condition After Falling 40 Feet From Ramp at ACC Championship Game

by NESN Staff on Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 11:11AM

A 22-year-old fan fell about 40 feet from a fourth-floor ramp at the ACC championship game between Florida State and Georgia Tech on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.

The fan was identified as Sean Michael Powers, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police via the Charlotte Observer. He was “in critical condition after sustaining life-threatening injuries” in the fall at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

The fan fell shortly after kickoff at 8 p.m. and was sent to the trauma center at Carolinas Medical Center, according to the AP.

“I came upon a crowd of people who were running,” fan Bud Elliott, 47, told the AP. “They said this guy jumped or fell off. It didn’t look good.”

Police did not link the cause of the fall to anything in particular. The incident joins a recent spate of dangerous accidents at football games. In October, a fan fell 21 feet from an escalator at MetLife Stadium following a Giants game, and in August, a fan fell from an escalator at Reliant Stadium in Houston. A fan also died at the Georgia Dome in August after falling 35 feet from the upper level.