On Friday, the hugely popular Louisville heavy hardcore band Knocked Loose took the stage at Louder Than Life, the giant rock festival in their hometown. Out in the audience, an accident changed the course of a Tennessee woman's life. WHAS reports that Tennessee mother Jamie Ulshoffer has been paralyzed from the waist down after a man fell out of a tree and landed on her.
Ulshoffer and her husband Conor, who attended Louder Than Life with her, spoke to WHAS from the ICU at University Of Louisville Hospital. Conor says that Jamie's spinal cord has been severed and that she may never walk again. In a message to the unidentified man who fell on her, Jamie says, "You shouldn't have been up there — definitely after it just rained, too. Stupid decision. You did this, but I'll forgive." Her niece has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical expenses. At press time, people have donated almost $14,000.
Knocked Loose were announced as special guests at Louder Than Life a few weeks before the festival. After a weather delay, they played on the Impact Stage under a tent, with their set starting at 11:05 p.m. Conor Ulshoffer says that he and his wife were sitting near a tree at the back of the crowd — nowhere near the rowdier part of the crowd: "We were actually at the back side of the tent, and there's four trees in the back… I turn around and see her on her back… Then everyone said some dude fell out of a tree."
Jamie already had bulging and herniated discs in her back from a 2020 car wreck. Police and EMTs responded on the scene. At this point, it's not clear whether the man who fell out of the tree stayed to help or whether he'll face any criminal charges.
