Sometimes the worst injuries take place off the field of play.
NFL photographer Kelly Smiley fractured her spine after falling backwards off a stage while working the Los Angeles Rams’ Feb. 13 Super Bowl victory parade. Smiley—who also photographed the Rams’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals days earlier—fell off the platform as she was setting up a shot of quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly Stafford, causing the mom of four to rush to see if she was okay.
Rushed to the hospital, Smiley tweeted that she suffered injuries to her spine and also broke her two cameras.
“Feeling ok. Staying the night in the trauma center,” the photographer wrote in a Story shared to her professional Instagram Feb. 17. “Thank you to everyone for reaching out.”
A friend of the photographer (who also shared pics of her hospital experience on her personal Instagram, including one asking, “How am I supposed to sleep like this lol”), set up a GoFundMe page to help raise at least $30,000 to cover Smiley’s “growing medical expenses as well as replace the camera gear that was severely damaged due to her fall.”
