Circus performer can't feel her legs after Amsterdam fall
A circus performer who was seriously injured on Friday after falling some 10 meters with her husband during a performance in the Carre theater, posted an update of her condition for the first time. She underwent two surgeries on her neck and is now out of intensive care. "We have not yet received a definitive diagnosis from the doctors, it will take time. But at the moment, I cannot feel my legs," she wrote on Facebook.
The woman and her husband are a Russian acrobat duo. Their act is known as Sky Angels and consists of acrobatic stunts performed high in the air, swinging on belts, with no safety net. The belts are sometimes held in their hands, but sometimes with their teeth.
During a performance in Amsterdam on Friday, the male performer's tooth broke while the female performer hung from a belt held in his mouth. They fell around 10 meters, with the man landing on top of the woman. The man sustained a concussion. The woman was seriously hurt.
"I've had a double operation on my cervical vertebra, an invertebrate disc has been removed, a titanium plate with screws placed and bone marrow damage detected," the injured acrobat said on Facebook. "At this moment I cannot feel my legs and I have problems with my right arm."
After spending five days in intensive care, she has been transferred to a ward. She thanked everyone for their well wishes and stressed that she is under the care of the best doctors in the Netherlands.
