Cirque du Soleil has a policy of transporting any injured cast members to the hospital, the spokesperson noted.
Injuries are a rarity during Cirque productions, but they do occur. A performer fell from the “Wheel of Death” in Zarkana on Nov. 1, 2013 and required hospitalization for several days. Earlier that year, on July 29, French acrobat and aerialist Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31, fell to her death during Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Both Cirque du Soleil and the MGM Grand were fined by Nevada’s OSHA after a four-month investigation pointed to a rapid-speed hoisting cable that was severed by friction after a pulley/sheave malfunction.
Guyard-Guillot’s death was the first and only fatality in the 30-year history of Cirque du Soleil productions, and for more than a year, Cirque du Soleil performed Ka without the battle scene where the accident occurred. That scene has recently been added back into the production.
