This is turning into one costly fall.
Rob Hopkins, the Bills fan who plummeted out of his section while trying to slide down a railing during Sunday’s win over the Jets, first was banned from future games at Ralph Wilson Stadium and has now been fired from his job.
“EMA is very concerned about Sunday’s incident at the Buffalo Bills’ game and we are relieved that the injured were released from the hospital. Rob Hopkins is no longer employed by EMA,” the ad firm said in a statement, obtained by WBKW.
Escaping serious injury seems to be the only good news for Hopkins, who could face charges for his stunt gone wrong.
Video from Sunday’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Jets shows Hopkins sliding down the 300 level railing in a seated position before flipping backward and plummeting about 30 feet to the 200 level.
Hopkins and the man he landed on were treated inside the stadium before being taken to a hospital, where they were treated and released, authorities said.
“This individual will not be permitted back into Ralph Wilson Stadium,” Bills President and Chief Executive Russ Brandon said in a statement.
Season ticket-holder Jeff Savidge, of Rochester, said play on the field had stopped for a television timeout when the falling fan suddenly landed across the neck and shoulders of a man across the aisle from him.
“He kind of bounced off him and landed about two rows down on the ground,” Savidge said in an interview. “I heard somebody scream from behind us, ‘Oh my God!’ or something like that.”
Hopkins got up and said he was OK, but was stopped by security from leaving, Savidge said. Emergency workers put a neck brace on him and carried him away on a chair stretcher, he said.
A security officer, meanwhile, held the head of the fan who was struck to keep him from moving as he sat upright in his seat awaiting medical attention, Savidge said. He was carried out on a backboard.
“As much as it was kind of chaotic, everybody was in control,” he said.
Brandon said the team is cooperating with an Erie County Sheriff’s investigation of the incident. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Mary Murray said charges are possible.
With AP