A BASEBALL fan who fell out of the stands at an MLB game is awake and alert but still faces a “long road to recovery”, a pal has warned.
College football star Kavan Markwood was left fighting for his life after being rushed to hospital with a fractured skull following a 21ft fall at PNC Park on Wednesday.
6
6
6
The 20-year-old landed on the warning track during the seventh innings of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ showdown against the Chicago Cubs.
Close friend Jennifer Phillips said the budding athlete slipped off a railing before plunging onto the field.
She has now confirmed that Markwood is improving since he arrived at the trauma center at Allegheny General Hospital in a critical condition.
He is now able to speak to his loved ones.
Phillips described his recovery as “miraculous” as she shared a touching message on the GoFundMe page set up for Markwood.
It read: “After everything he’s been through since the accident on Wednesday night, this progress feels nothing short of miraculous.
“He still has a long road ahead of him, but today brought a moment of hope that we’ve all been holding onto.”
As of Sunday, the GoFundMe to help with Markwood’s recovery has raised more than $31,000.
Markwood was celebrating Pirates star Andrew McCutchen scoring a go-ahead double in the moments before his fall.
He reportedly drenched himself in beer as he got caught up in the celebrations before falling from the ledge.
Worrying footage shows the moment he fell.
Markwood was treated on the baseball field following the fall as the game was temporarily paused.
Bob Nutting, the chair of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was left horrified by what had unfolded.
“We are devastated,” he said.
“Pirates baseball is a community, and our fans are like family. In times like these, we must come together, support one another, and keep him and his loved ones in our prayers.”
Markwood, a Minnesota Vikings fan, was on the football team at Walsh University during his freshman year in 2022.
The following year he joined Wheeler University playing for its team The Cardinals.
If there is somebody who going to be able to overcome this, it’s going to be Kavan Markwood because he’s a tough kid
David McDonald
He was a high school MVP and was listed on the MEC Commissioner’s honor roll in 2023.
David McDonald, a school superintendent who knew him, described him as a “solid young man.”
“If there is somebody who going to be able to overcome this, it’s going to be Kavan Markwood because he’s a tough kid,” he told KDKA-TV.
McDonald also described him as a fighter.
“He proven that for 21 years to get to the point where he is now, and we need to rally around Kavan,” he added.
The fall came just three years after mom Raquel Wilkins and her son Denzel Browning Wilkins died after falling from the third level of Petco Park in San Diego.
Cops ruled their deaths as a murder-suicide.
6
6
6
