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A GoFundMe has begun in efforts to help pay for medical expenses for the 20-year-old man who fell from the stands of a Pittsburgh Pirates game this week.
Kavan Markwood, a former college football player, was identified as the man who fell more than 20 feet onto the right-field warning track.
Markwood flipped over the wall’s railing and fell onto the field in a game between the Pirates and Chicago Cubs.
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An opening day crowd watches a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Play stopped immediately as medical staff sprinted to the outfield to find a shirtless Markwood motionless on the warning track’s dirt with blood visible on his face. Both teams’ trainers joined EMS to get him onto a cart and off the field.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said later Wednesday that the fan was in critical condition.
A woman identified as Jennifer Phillips is listed as the organizer of the fundraiser.
“I am writing this today with a heavy heart but also with hope,” Phillips wrote. “Our society has made it so easy to judge an individual or a situation with social media which is always just an opinion. Please always remember that this individual may be very special to many other people . Can you imagine what their loved ones are going through and felling? [sic] I know this young man very well and I know that he is very strong but he is also battling for his young life. Please be considerate during this tragic time.”
Phillips said the donations will “assist with any medical bills and financial hardships that this family is experiencing right now.”
Stadium security and Pittsburgh Pirates medical personnel carted a fan who fell from the stands to the field to an ambulance as the Pirates batted against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning at PNC Park. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
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Pirates star Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double to put the team up 4-3 in the bottom of the inning when players from his team frantically tried to alert umpires and security that the fan was on the warning track.
The game was paused for about 10 minutes as medical personnel arrived. The fan was placed onto a backboard, loaded onto a medical cart and taken out of the stadium.
A graphic video posted to social media showed the fan tumbling over the railing and dropping about 20 feet to the ground. The TV broadcast showed McCutchen standing on second base with his hand over his head and in shock. Cubs players took a knee while the fan was being attended to.
Markwood played for two Division II football programs, Walsh University and Wheeling University. He played at Wheeling in 2023, appearing in four games, according to the team’s site.
Andrew McCutchen, #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates, looks on after a fan fell from the stands during the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on April 30, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
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“Truly hate what happened tonight,” McCutchen wrote on social media. “Cant help but think about that guy, his family and friends. I pray tonight for him. Let us think about his loved ones and hug our families a little tighter tonight. I hope he pulls thru. May God Bless you all. Good night.”
Fox News’ Scott Thompson and Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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