A woman has been left paralysed from the waist down after a man fell from a tree and landed on her during Knocked Loose’s set at Louder Than Life festival.
Jamie Ulshoffer was attending the festival in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband Conor on Friday (September 18) when the incident occurred during the Kentucky hardcore band’s late-night performance.
According to WHAS11, Ulshoffer had been standing near the back of the tented Impact Stage when a man who had climbed one of the nearby trees fell and landed on her. She was taken to UofL Hospital, where she remains in intensive care after suffering a severed spinal cord.
“I can’t feel my feet. Can’t do anything that I used to,” she told the outlet. “I’m not going to be able to play with the kids.”
Conor recalled: “We were actually at the backside of the tent and there’s four trees in the back… We were on the back right corner. I turn around and see her on her back… Then everyone said some dude fell out of a tree.”
Ulshoffer does not remember the incident itself, but said she was willing to forgive the man who fell onto her.
“He shouldn’t have been up there. Definitely after it just rained, too,” she said. “Stupid decision. You did this, but I’ll forgive.”
Louisville police said on Tuesday (September 22) that no criminal investigation would be opened, with the matter instead considered civil. Police said a tree limb had broken, causing the man to fall.
Festival promoter Danny Wimmer Presents said in a statement: “Due to patient privacy, we are unable to comment on or provide additional details regarding specific medical incidents.”
A GoFundMe has been launched by Ulshoffer’s family to help cover her medical expenses and recovery. At the time of writing, it has raised more than $13,000 towards a $22,000 target.
Knocked Loose had been revealed as a surprise addition to Louder Than Life shortly before the festival, playing what amounted to a hometown set for the Oldham County band. Their performance had originally been scheduled for earlier in the evening but was pushed back to 11:05pm after severe weather forced an evacuation of the festival site for around two hours.
The four-day event ran from September 17 to 20 at the Kentucky Exposition Center and was headed up by My Chemical Romance, Iron Maiden, Tool and Limp Bizkit.
Earlier this year, Knocked Loose teamed up with Denzel Curry on the furious single ‘Hive Mind’, before performing it together for the first time at a surprise Brooklyn skatepark show in July.
Speaking to NME last year about the band’s rise, frontman Bryan Garris said Knocked Loose remained committed to their hardcore roots despite their increasing mainstream profile. “We’re a heavy band and we’re always going to be a heavy band,” he said. “We’re never going to shy away from that.”
