Houston News: falling

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Injured Texans fans talk about falling panel

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- For the first time we are hearing from two men who were injured, hit on the head by a large piece of metal that fell from an electronic sign during Sunday's Texans game.

Scott Woodard showed us the gash on this head that is still healing and remembers the moment a large piece of metal hit him in the head.

"Texans were coming down for a drive, and next thing you know, bam, something hit me. I thought it was a beer bottle or something hard. Checked my head and there was blood," he said.

Woodard wasn't the only person hit.

"I was sitting here, all of a sudden, something just whacked me and I was out of it and I didn't know what happened. I was trying to get my senses back," said Brian Black.

Black, who was sitting two seats away from Woodard, was hit by the flat side of the metal and he ended up with a knot on his head. It was Woodard who began bleeding from his gash, eventually needing seven staples in his scalp. But what was most frustrating was the long wait for an ambulance.

"I think it was somewhere around an hour plus while we were waiting, and I was a little shocked I couldn't get this done," said Woodard.

Despite our repeated attempts, Reliant officials have not spoken on camera, just releasing a statement on Monday.

Reliant says fan mischief may be to blame for the falling metal, but our legal analyst says even if it was mischief, the facility is still responsible.

"I don't care if it's mischief or not, nobody should run the risk if they go to a game of being hit with some paneling that's loose," said KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy.

Both Black and Woodard have hired attorney Brent Coon, who said the two men had not gotten much rest since Sunday and were hoping to bring some closure with today's news conference.

Coon said they're "just fans supporting the team. I think they're fans still wanting to support the team."

As an engineer for NASA, Woodard is concerned over the design and construction issues associated with the equipment which fell on his head.

Woodard said they both want to make sure that an incident like this doesn't happen again to their fellow Texans fans.

"What if that thing hit a baby?" Black asked.

Coon added the panels cover the LED screens that encircle the entire stadium and that whatever caused this panel to fall off Sunday could potentially cause a similar incident in the future.

Both men said they still plan to attend Texans games at Reliant Stadium.

"I'm a Texans fan, ready to get back," Woodard said.

"I'll bring a hard hat next time," said Black.

Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this story.

houston texans, reliant stadium, nfl, local, miya shay

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Monday, September 10, 2012

Texans fan injured by falling debris at Reliant

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man was injured by falling debris Sunday at Reliant Stadium during the Houston Texans season opener against the Miami Dolphins.

According to security at the stadium, an access panel to one of the end zone LED display boards dislodged and fell into a seating area around 12:45pm.

The panel landed on one fan. He was transported to an area hospital. Officials do not believe the injuries are life-threatening.

Some witnesses say they saw the commotion but didn't know exactly what had happened.

It was about 45 minutes after kickoff when Texans fan Scott Byrne says he captured a photo of the panel that fell as it was being carried out by stadium staff.

Byrne tells us some fans thought a drink had been thrown at first and that's what caused the commotion.

Many fans left the game celebrating the Texans' victory, unaware of what had happened inside.

"I didn't hear about it until you told me just now," Celso Hernandez said. "I hope he's ok and prayers go out to his family."

This isn't the first incident involving fans as the football season gets underway.

Jonathan Kelly, 25, fell about 60 feet to his death during the Texans pre-season game against the Vikings on August 30. Kelly was seen riding the handrails of an escalator several stories high. The medical examinder ruled his death an accident.

"It was a happy day but it was unfortunate someone got hurt," Will Beinert said. "That's always a sad thing."

There was also a video posted by a fan on YouTube that showed a brawl in the upper deck. The person who uploaded it says it's from the August 18 Texans-49ers preseason game. The verbal confrontation turned physical before it appears the people involved broke it up themselves.

"It's unfortunate," Becca Breinert said. "Everybody is here for the same reason, trying to have a good time. You meet amazing people."

As people left the stadium Sunday evening, their thoughts turned to their fellow fan who was just there to cheer his team on.

"I feel sorry for him. Golly, I saw the gash on someone's phone and it was bad," Izzy Vences said. "I don't know how badly he's hurting or how he feels but he deserves something out of it, I think."

Byrne says about six to eight seats were empty in the area where the object fell Sunday, but some of those fans were in their seats for the second half.

Reliant security also tells us there was a medical incident on level 5 Sunday, believed to be a heart attack. The man was stable when he was transported to the hospital.

houston texans, reliant stadium, local, christine dobbyn

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