Baseball fan struck in head by broken bat at Toronto Blue Jays exhibition game

A young fan was almost hit in the face by a flying bat last week but for the intervention of a fellow spectator

Reading Time:2 minutes

The incident occurred during an exhibition match between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Atlanta Braves. Photo: USA Today

Published: 3:06pm, 8 Mar 2016Updated: 3:06pm, 8 Mar 2016

A 59-year-old woman suffered blunt force trauma when she was struck in the head by a piece of a broken bat during Monday’s Toronto Blue Jays exhibition game at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

There was blood running down really quick. She did not lose consciousness, but she was in shock

Witness

Pam Henderson, a Nova Scotia resident and Blue Jays spring training season ticket holder, was injured when Atlanta Braves designated hitter Kelly Johnson’s bat shattered as he grounded out in the sixth innings on Tuesday. The large end of the barrel flew high into the stands and struck Henderson and her husband, Bill, who suffered an injured wrist – and his watch shattered – as he tried to shield his wife from the bat shard.

Instances of bats shattering and being sent spinning into the crowd are on the rise. Photo: USA Today

Henderson was taken by ambulance to Bayfront Medical Centre in St Petersburg. She was treated and released on Monday evening, according to a hospital spokesperson.

The Hendersons were sitting down the first base line, but about nine rows deep, and in the front of the second tier of seats – an area that certainly would not have been covered by enhanced safety netting that Major League Baseball has recommended teams install after a woman was critically injured at Fenway Park last April. Their seats were roughly parallel to the first base bag.

Watch: A young fan was almost hit in the face with a bat at a game last week

Emergency personnel at the stadium were summoned immediately, and Henderson – her face heavily bandaged – was taken from the scene. A Dunedin Fire and Rescue EMT radioed that Henderson suffered blunt force trauma.

Baseball fan struck in head by broken bat at Toronto Blue Jays exhibition game

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A young fan was almost hit in the face by a flying bat last week but for the intervention of a fellow spectator

A young fan was almost hit in the face by a flying bat last week but for the intervention of a fellow spectator