Concert arenas and accident claims

Meeting up with your old school friends is the best. I arranged a lunch with several of my old chums the other day and we couldn't stop laughing at the array of pictures that were spread across the table. Fashion in the 90s wasn't exactly kind to your figure and it was years before GHD hair straighteners had been invented. As you can imagine, we all looked pretty worse for wear.

Looking through the pictures we came across a snap taken of us at a free music concert back in 1995; it was my best friend's birthday and we had a picnic on the grass before the acts staring appearing on stage. We soon made our way to the front and had a really good view of all the B-list celebrities that had turned up to mime over their latest hit that had made it to the top 20 on Dr Fox's Sunday chart show.

I never thought that any of us would need to make an accident claim because we might suffer personal injuries at the concert but we nearly could have done. About halfway into the concert we noticed a group of men in their 20s getting quite drunk and rowdy. They were jumping and falling all over the place and when their favourite band appeared on stage they were jumping on top of us girls as if we were in one big mosh pit.

We tried to push them off but then the whole crowd got out of control and the security guards had to pull us over the barrier and into safety. We didn't tell any of our parents in fear that they might take legal action and contact a personal injury solicitor, plus we would never have been allowed to go the following year if anybody had known about our potential mosh pit head injuries.

It seems that concerts and festivals can be quite dangerous places to visit, especially in the bull charged area at the front of the stage. Although we were lucky enough to be taken out of the hectic crowd by the security guards, some audience members suffer serious and sometimes fatal injuries at concerts

In August 2005, a number of crowd members suffered personal injuries at Leeds Festival when fans started an almighty riot. Similar events also unfolded later that year when audience members at Reading Festival began their own mosh pit and caused personal injuries to a number of people. But it's not only the crowd that can spark potential accident claims for concert injuries; band members have also be known to inflict wounds on audience members and have often caused serious injuries to themselves.

In July 2005, up and coming rocker Patrick Sherry was killed when he attempted a dramatic stage dive and jumped into the audience. The Bad Beat Revue frontman was performing at the Warehouse in Leeds when he leaped off from the stage and put his hands out to grab a lighting rig. The 29-year-old missed his grip and fell to the floor, suffering a serious head injury.

One eyewitness said, "He crouched down before leaping off the stage and tried to grab the lighting rig and his momentum carried him forward.

"He went upside down and hit the floor. It lasted about five seconds. It was horrendous."

More recently, rap artist 50 Cent hit the headlines following a concert at the Hippodrome in Springfield, Illinois, where two audience members were reportedly assaulted by the star. Donna Dejesus and Taneka Nesbitt made an accident claim for personal injuries after 50 Cent reportedly jumped off from the stage to find a crowd member that had allegedly thrown water at him. It is not believed that any other audiences suffered injuries at the event.

Similar concert accidents which have occurred over the years have included security guards being shot, stages collapsing, audience members being run over by water tankers and numerous stabbings. All of these accidents caused serious personal injuries to the people involved and many of them may have later made accident claims.

Looking back at my free concert in 1995, it seems lucky that we never had to make compensation claims. Although concerts are usually fun events, just remember to take care of yourself and your friends, especially if you're brave enough to delve into the murky depths of the mosh pit.

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