A circus performer has been taken to hospital after falling more than 30 feet in the middle of his act. The man in his 20s was riding the “giant wheel of death” during a performance at the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
A video showed the acrobat falling off the aerial spinning wheel before colliding with metal scaffolding and hitting the ground. He fell around 10 metres (33 feet) at 6.30pm yesterday evening, December 13, leaving the audience of families shocked.
The full extent of his injuries is currently unclear but it is believed that he has broken several bones.
The show was stopped with privacy screens put up as two doctors from the audience came to help. The show was later cancelled.
The circus ringmaster Jack Jay said: “He was fully conscious after the fall and two members of the audience, believed to be an off-duty police officer and a paramedic, came forward to help.”
Explaining how he might have fallen, Mr Jay said: “It looked like miss-timing. He went to jump through one of the wheels and slipped, landing on the floor.”
The show was immediately stopped and the emergency services were called, Mr Jay said.
Health and safety officials were notified and are expected to investigate the fall and the apparatus at the purpose-built circus. The acrobat’s brother, who is also his act partner, accompanied him to James Paget University Hospital with circus staff.
Norfolk Constabulary and the East of England Ambulance Service were contacted for comment.
