A Russian acrobat dancer is currently recovering after she fell 20 feet during a botched stunt, breaking both arms as she hit the ground.
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According to TMZ, the accident occurred while acrobat Valeriya Zapashnaya was performing with the Tsemerovo Circus in the city of Kemerovo. Things appeared to be going well as she and her male partner were suspended in the air without any safety harnesses. However, everything changed in a matter of seconds.
As she attempted to do a backflip in the area, Zapashnaya missed landing on her partner’s extended legs. She then plunged to the ground. As she fell, Zapashnaya extended her arms to brace herself for the landing, causing her to break both limbs.
The entire incident was caught on video.
The show’s director, Yaroslav Zapashny, revealed that the acrobat underwent surgery on one arm. “All circus artists work without safety equipment,” Zapashny stated, per New York Post. “This is an elementary human factor, she made a mistake in the trick.”
Zapashny also stated that despite the terrifying fall, Zapashnaya is in “good condition” and “eager to get back to work.”
“Luckily, everything is fine with her,” Zapashny added.
Zapashnaya’s husband also shared with Russian Security News that while he has to feet her due to the broken arms, he expects her to be “flying again in a month.”
Zapashnaya’s fall comes less than two years after she experienced a similar accident. That accident left her with a broken arm and a laceration on her forehead.
A Cirque du Soleil Acrobat Performer Recently Experienced a Similar Fall
Zapashnaya’s terrifying fall comes weeks after a Cirque du Soleil acrobat experienced a similar incident during a performance.
During the Kooza show in Portland, Cirque du Soleil performer and Russian acrobat, Mariia Konfektova was performing her suspended-in-the-air hula hoop performance when she fell.
One of the audience members, 10-year-old Benjamin Goldstein, managed to catch the terrifying scene on camera. He thought the fall was part of the show.
“It looked like it was purposefully,” Benjamin recalled. “But then we’re, like, people were acting weird. I was like, oh, this isn’t part of the show. Something’s up.”
His little sister Samantha admitted she got “really, really, really scared” when Konfektova fell. “Yeah, yeah, I also thought it was part of the show,” she noted. “But I saw she was actually really hurt. And it’s all really scary.”
A spokesperson for Kooza released a statement about the accident. “In accordance with our emergency procedures, we stopped the show briefly and the artist was immediately assisted by the tour intervention team and transported to the hospital for examination.”
“The health and safety of our employees is always our top priority,” the statement continued. “As always, in the case of an accident, the artist will continue to be monitored by the KOOZA medical and coaching team to determine when she can return to the show.“
Konfektova was “conscious, stable, and being cared for by medical specialists and [their] team” following the accident.