A video captured the moment a light pole broke due to high winds and fell on top of a high school soccer player and a referee who was officiating the game.
Both were rushed to the hospital after the light pole fell on March 9 in Arkansas.
Danielle Meyer, who attended the game in Clarksville, about 100 miles northwest of Little Rock, said she heard the pole break off and crash down.
“I mean as soon as we stepped out of the truck, there was a big ol’ explosion and I thought maybe a tent had blown over,” Meyer told KFSM.
“It seemed like it was forty or fifty miles per hour… I mean even the goal posts where they play football were swaying back and forth.”
@racaldwe High School boys tournament at Clarksville, Mena vs Dardanelle, Sat, 3/9/19. Wind broke light pole, Mena player with cuts to head and leg, referee with both bones broken in leg. Both taken to hospital via ambulance pic.twitter.com/au4mPMtVAu
— Steve Harvey (@SteveHarveyAR) March 10, 2019
LOOK: Light pole fell on two people in middle of soccer game. Both survived
Full video is tough to watch. You can see it here: https://t.co/otHzSriq30 (via @FOX16News) #NexstarNation pic.twitter.com/L1Dqqlpwvn
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) March 12, 2019
The student, from Mena High School, suffered wounds to his legs and head. The referee suffered a broken leg, a fractured tibia, and a fractured fibula.
Olivia Lockhart identified herself on Twitter as the sister of the student.
She said he received stitches to his head and his knee was hurting “but he’s eating Taco Bell like nothing happened.” She added, “God is amazing.”
here’s an update on my baby bro. stitches to the head, and a hurt knee… but he’s eating taco bell like nothing happened. ????❤️ God is amazing pic.twitter.com/1jhaOG25hW
— olivia lockhart (@livibrookee) March 12, 2019
Strong winds toppled a light pole at the football stadium today while a soccer game was underway. A student from another…
The Clarksville School District David Hopkins told KARK on Monday night that the referee, identified as Rigo Resendez, was still in the hospital.
Resendez said he had to get surgery on his leg and his stepmother said the college student has to have at least one more surgery.
Hopkins said the 80-foot pole was removed.
Crews work to remove the lighting pole that injured a referee & Mena high school player Saturday afternoon. #ARNews pic.twitter.com/OoPLVleRIX
— Price McKeon (@PriceMcKeon) March 11, 2019
Student, referee hospitalized after being struck by falling light pole at soccer game https://t.co/qs5xYCOMZ3 pic.twitter.com/MN8Y7dKk5t
— WTKR News 3 (@WTKR3) March 12, 2019
“It was a bad bad situation. We’re just very grateful that we got out of this with injuries (and not deaths),” he said.
“Right now the field is closed until we can assess all of our poles and figure out if it is an issue with the poles or what created this problem.”
If the cause was just high winds, the district will adjust protocol to stop games amid high winds. The district has also explored replacing the wooden poles with metal poles.
