Temple student, 18, dies from pole fall during Eagles celebration

Temple student, 18, dies from pole fall during Eagles celebration
UPI

Jan. 29 (UPI) — Temple student Tyler Sabapathy has died from injuries he sustained after falling from a light pole during a celebration of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl berth, the school announced. He was 18.

The incident occurred Sunday night at 15th and Market streets in Center City. Sabapathy died Tuesday. A viral video showed the fall, with sources later confirming to multiple news outlets that Sabapathy was the man in the footage.

“The loss of a promising 18-year-old man like Tyler is both tragic and traumatic,” Temple president John Fry said. “There are no words that can make sense of it, and the entire Temple community mourns his passing.

“Our hearts go out to Tyler’s family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved him.”

Video of Sabapathy’s fall showed the Temple club gymnast climbing the pole before falling and eventually landing on his head.

“A native of Toronto, Canada, Tyler was already a thriving student within Temple University’s College of Public Health, where he was majoring in exercise and sport science,” Fry said. “As an accomplished gymnast with more than 120 medals in provincial, regional and international competitions, Tyler was fascinated with injury prevention, and this ultimately led him to pursue the major that he did.

“He no doubt had a bright future ahead of him, and it is so tragic that we will not be able to see how he would have made his mark on the world.”

The Philadelphia Police Department reported several incidents linked to the celebration, including 31 citations for disorderly conduct or failure to disperse. Four assaults on police officers were reported. There were two shootings, a stabbing, a vandalism incident and a report of a vehicle hitting multiple pedestrians.

Rebekah DeShields, 26, was later charged with aggravated assault and other charges in connect to the vehicular incident.

The Eagles will battle the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.

Authored by Upi via Breitbart January 28th 2025