A 20-year-old baseball fan named Kavan Markwood fell approximately 21 feet from the stands at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during a Pittsburgh Pirates game on April 30, 2025. The incident occurred in the right field bleachers, specifically over the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall, while Markwood was celebrating a go-ahead double by Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the seventh inning. He lost his balance after jumping up in excitement, clipped the railing, and tumbled over onto the warning track below
. Markwood, a former college football player who attended Walsh University and later Wheeling University, suffered serious injuries including a broken neck and clavicle. He was hospitalized in critical condition but has since shown signs of recovery, including taking his first steps and regaining some motor functions, though he still faces a long road ahead
. The fall was treated as accidental by Pittsburgh authorities. Additionally, a man named Ethan Kirkwood was charged with providing alcohol to the underage Markwood, which was connected to the circumstances surrounding the fall
. The event briefly halted the game as emergency crews responded, and it drew widespread attention and support from the community and the Pirates organization
