An assistant referee and a player were taken to the hospital after a wooden light pole was knocked over by heavy winds, crashing onto the field during a high school soccer match on Saturday in Clarksville, Arkansas.
The referee sustained two broken bones in his leg while the player had superficial wounds to his head and legs, according to KFSM. Neither injury was considered life-threatening.
Video of the soccer light pole falling shows the giant floodlights crashing down right on top of the assistant ref and just missing a player. The AR appears to react just in time to avoid being hit in the head while the player was able to scramble back to miss the worst of the damage from the lights.
Be warned: The video below includes a broken leg.
Scary. A light pole barely missed crushing a high school soccer referee in Arkansas on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/KzQQC6InSD
— Gordon Keith (@gordonkeith) March 12, 2019
Terrifying.
You gotta feel bad for the referee, who was just doing his job on a Saturday afternoon until suddenly his leg was broken, but it certainly could have been much worse had the pole struck his head. Hopefully he can have a full recovery and get enough money from a lawsuit that he never has to referee again.
Perhaps most shocking about the video was that the goalkeeper didn’t even react. The dude just watched a man’s leg snap in half and a teammate nearly get killed and he looks like he’s waiting for the throw-in.
Student, referee hospitalized after being struck by falling light pole at soccer game https://t.co/dSHiSqcu1X pic.twitter.com/uHLS6UfJqb
— WGNO (@WGNOtv) March 12, 2019
The match was between Mena and Darnedelle high schools as part of a tournament, which was canceled. The field was closed for further evaluation.
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