The fan who made a horrible fall from a 21-foot-high right field wall at PNC Park on Wednesday was identified as a 20-year-old former college football player, according to multiple outlets.
Listed in crisis, Kaban Markwood is a 2022 graduate of South Allegheny High School in western Pennsylvania, a school district official. I checked his identity with the three of them..
District spokesman Laura Thomas described him as “a hardworking, extremely resilient young man.”
The 20-year-old continued playing college football at Division II Wheeling University in West Virginia as a linebacker in 2023, but left the team for work the following year. TMZ reported.
Markwood fell 21 feet above Clemente's wall on the right field at Pittsburgh ballpark during a Pirates Cubs game on Wednesday night.
He fell on a three-foot-high railing along the walls of seven innings, celebrating Andrew McCutchen's go-ahead double.
The outlet said that Markwood was excited and had taken off his shirt and that McCutchen poured a beer before the batting.
At Wheeling coach Zac Bruney told TMZ that Markwood was “a very good young man.”
Mike Brown, athletic director for the South Allegheny School District, said Markwood had a lasting impact on the South Allegheny community, both as an athlete and as a youth of personality.
“The bag is best known for his resilience, strength and kindness. He is a friend of everyone. He is someone who lifts up others and faces challenges with courage and grace,” Brown added.
The Pirates offered prayers to the fans on Thursday before their match with the Cubs.
They also recognized the medical personnel who responded quickly after Markwood collapsed.
“We're in ruins,” Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “Pirates baseball is a community, and our fans are like family. In times like these, we must come together, support each other and keep him and his loved ones in prayer.”
