Friends speak about man who fell at EverBank Field during soccer match

Cuidy Joseph, 24, is still in critical condition Monday night after officers say he fell 42 feet from Section 245 at EverBank Field Saturday during the USA v. Nigeria soccer match.

Witnesses told police they saw Joseph standing or leaning on a chair, and when they looked back up, Joseph's seat had flipped and they say he fell to the ground.

Joseph's friends are trying to make sense of this fall.

"I was confused to what really happened because all I heard was he was in a bad accident. I could only think of a car accident I wasn't thinking 'stadium' anything," said Joseph's friend Gilroy Carter.

Action News contacted SMG to see if the stadium is safe. They said, "The stadium is up to code and strict guidelines are followed."

SMG said they had one other incident a few years back. It's reported that in 2000, a fan fell during a Jaguars game.

The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, had a similar incident where a man died from an accidental fall.

They said they were in compliance with safety codes at the time as well, but decided to raise the height of all rails in front of seating areas to the maximum height of 42 inches.

Action News reached out to other stadiums as well that have had similar incidents. We're waiting to hear back from them to see if they made changes to their sports facilities.

Joseph's friends said he is a great person on and off the soccer field.

"He's the guy that just loves life in general, always joking and cracking jokes making people laugh," said Carter.

Carter said Joseph plays center back and was supposed to be playing in a league starting this Thursday and said he is praying Joseph will pull through.