Father reveals terror after son, 9, fell off his shoulders in Astroworld tragedy
A 9-year-old boy is clinging to life after he was trampled at Travis Scott’s deadly Astroworld concert in Houston on Friday, a report said.
Young Ezra Blount was reportedly on his father’s shoulders in the audience when a massive crowd crush erupted, killing eight people and injuring hundreds more in the ensuing chaos.
“My son had Ezra on his shoulders at the concert and my son couldn’t breathe because of all the pressure that was being applied to him and he passed out,” Ezra’s grandfather told KTRK-TV of the child.
“And when he passed out, Ezra fell into the crowd. He was trampled really bad.”
When Ezra’s dad, whose name wasn’t disclosed, awoke in the concert venue’s medical station his son had already been taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest, the station reported.
The hospital booked the child as a “John Doe,” the family told the station. He’s now in a coma, according to family.
“How could this happen in the city of Houston?” the child’s shaken grandfather told the station. “When we go to concerts and different events, we expect safety and security. All the videos I’ve seen, I didn’t see any security – I saw very little security.”
The child has damage to his kidney, lungs, and heart and is suffering from brain swelling, his grandfather said.
“He’s a small innocent child — he didn’t deserve that, he didn’t deserve that at all,” the grandfather, who didn’t disclose his name, told the station in an on-camera interview.
He said the family is praying for a miracle for Ezra and seeking accountability.
“I’ve seen apologies online that didn’t look sincere from people who participated in that event,” he said, though he didn’t mention Scott or any organizers by name.
“If you feel so bad why aren’t you down here at the hospital checking on your fans?”
The family has hired prominent attorney Ben Crump, who is already representing several other people injured in lawsuits against organizers. Crump is known for representing George Floyd’s family after Floyd’s 2020 death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
In a statement, Crump said the child’s coma was medically induced in an attempt to combat his brain trauma.
“The suffering that this family is going through is immeasurable,” Crump said in a statement. “This little boy had his whole life ahead of him – a life that is currently hanging in the balance because of the reckless mismanagement that ensued at the Astroworld Festival. We ask everyone to send up the most powerful prayers they can as this family tries to grapple with the undoable damage that has been done to their son. We demand justice for EB, his family, and all of our clients that left Astroworld with trauma.”
