Dunkirk High School graduate injured at Buffalo concert | News, Sports, Jobs

Submitted photo Bird Piche, a 2017 Dunkirk High School graduate, was seriously injured at a concert in Buffalo last week after a band member jumped into the crowd.

BUFFALO — Being a fan in the crowd at a concert is an exhilarating feeling. Shouting out the lyrics to your favorite song while looking around to see a sea of ​​people doing the same can be unforgettable.

But a former resident was seriously injured last week at a Buffalo concert. Bird Piche, a 2017 Dunkirk High School graduate, went to see Australian punk rock band Trophy Eyes perform last Tuesday at the Mohawk Place concert venue in downtown Buffalo. At the start of the show, the band’s lead singer, John Floreani, jumped into the crowd in an attempt to “surf the crowd” on the raised arms of the supporters.

Piche suffered a “catastrophic” spinal cord injury, which resulted in “extensive surgery”, according to a GoFundMe page created in his name. Piche will be unable to work at this time and will require extensive rehabilitation following his injury. “It is still too early to know his prognosis” said the fundraiser.

WKBW-TV was first to report the incident, which has since been covered by The Buffalo News, as well as various national and international media outlets.

Marty Boratin, a veteran of the Buffalo music scene who regularly hosts concerts at Mohawk Place, told the Buffalo News that there is a strict policy prohibiting crowd-surfing and stage-diving on site, but that it continues to occur. occur. “It’s stupid and dangerous and people continue to do it” Boratin told the Buffalo News.

Piche was the victim of the group’s failure to respect the rules of the room. Even more tragic, she is not the first.

As the Buffalo News noted, about 13 years ago, Mike Bird, a then-19-year-old fan, suffered a spinal injury when a musician jumped from the stage into the crowd at Mohawk Place . Bird was initially paralyzed from the waist down.

As of Monday morning, the GoFundMe page, called Support Bird’s Recovery and Rehabilitation, had raised nearly $45,000 to support Piche’s recovery. Among the more than 850 donations is a $5,000 donation from the Trophy Eyes group. Stephanie Brown and Leo Wolters Tejera are organizing the fundraiser.

“We will update the details based on his comfort level,” Brown and Wolters Tejera said on the page.

Funds raised through the GoFundMe campaign will be used for medical bills and other needs to function following the accident.

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/birdforever