Child recovering after being hit with foul ball in Durham
DURHAM (WTVD) -- A young child was taken to the hospital Friday night from the Durham Bulls game after she was injured by a baseball.
Pictures from the scene showed the child being loaded into an ambulance. Stadium administration has not identified the child or her condition.
Witnesses said the child was in the stands when she was hit in the face by a foul ball.
Kyle Wattson witnessed the incident. He was sitting just a few seats over from the girl when she was hit. Wattson told ABC11 the girl looked to be around 10 years old.
"I look up and see it hit her straight in the head and I hear a smacking sound and it took me a second to process," said Wattson. "Everyone kind of went silent and started calling for help and rushed her out immediately. It was tough to watch."
Watson said there wasn't any time to try to stop the foul ball from hitting her.
"I think she was bleeding out of her nose when they took her out. Her mom was panicking, as you can imagine. It was a pretty awful scene," Wattson described.
On Saturday, a spokesperson with the Bulls released the following statement:
"We cannot discuss any medical details or updates concerning last night's foul ball occurrence and do not feel it appropriate to discuss on camera at this time, out of concern for the privacy of the family involved."
It happened at the top of the second inning in a game against the Gwinnett Braves.
"We were sitting on the third base line and a line shot came out and she was sitting between her parents and it hit her in the face, but we couldn't tell exactly where, but it didn't look pretty. She screamed," said witness Jeff Jones.
Last month, another person was hit while sitting along the third base line at Fenway Park. That woman had to get three dozen stitches on her forehead.
The injuries are calling into question whether netting should be extended to keep fans safe.
"I use to be a proponent of keep the nets as minimal as possible so the fans can enjoy it. But, after after seeing the little girl get struck, I thought immediately 'there needs to be a net here.' They're hitting them way too hard, way too fast into the stands," said Wattson. "I hope she'll be alright."
