The UTSA Roadrunners hosted the Navy Midshipmen at the Alamodome on Saturday night for the school’s annual Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans game. But the pregame ceremony took a frightening turn when one of the service members taking part was seriously injured.
A military service member fell while rappelling from the Alamodome rafters roughly 15 minutes before kickoff and was rushed to a local hospital. Officials have not released his identity or any update on his condition.
Fall During Pregame Ceremony
As part of the pregame festivities, four officers were set to rappel from the stadium’s ceiling down to the field. One of them appeared to lose control during his descent and slid down the line before crashing to the turf.
The rappel team was from Detachment 2 of the 6th Combat Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, a UTSA spokesperson confirmed to ESPN.
Medical personnel immediately attended to the service member on the field before he was taken out of the Alamodome and rushed to a nearby hospital.
A video of the fall quickly spread on social media, racking up millions of views, but viewer discretion is advised.
‘Everybody was dead silent’
The incident led to thousands of stunned onlookers.
“Once the band started playing, there was a guy that fell down, and started coming down fast,” witness Adrian Corey told KSAT. “Everybody was quiet, the band stopped performing. Everybody was dead silent.”
UTSA released a statement following the incident, expressing “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” to the military service member and his family.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the start of tonight’s game,” the school said, via ESPN. “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues.”
The university added that it is offering support services to students and employees who were emotionally affected by what they witnessed.
The game went on as scheduled after kickoff was delayed by about 10 minutes. Officials have not said what caused the fall.
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