A woman who was seriously injured when she fell and was impaled by an exposed stadium seat pole at a Folsom Field concert in Boulder last fall is suing the company that rents the seats to University of Colorado Boulder football fans.
Read more Denver police arrest suspect in quadruple shooting at nightclub
In a complaint filed Thursday in Denver County District Court, 20-year-old Isabella Hayward of Idaho argues the company, Learfield Amplify Seating, LLC., was “negligent and reckless” when it didn’t remove the stadium seats ahead of an October 2025 concert at the stadium featuring electronic dance music artist John Summit.
The company contracts with CU Boulder to rent or lease cushioned stadium seats to CU football fans. As part of the contract, the company is responsible for installing, uninstalling and replacing the seats, according to the complaint.
The seats remained in place for the October 2025 concert, and some concertgoers had removed the back cushions of the seats, exposing the metal poles, before Hayward arrived, the complaint states.
Hayward lost her footing while standing on a bleacher during the concert and fell backwards onto one of the exposed poles, which impaled her and lodged in her abdomen. In shock, Hayward pulled herself off the pole, which exposed her intestines. She was taken to a Boulder hospital for emergency surgery, and her injuries still require treatment nearly 10 months later, the complaint states.
Read more Today in History: August 18, former British nurse found guilty of murdering 7 babies
Learfield “should have known” the seating was “incompatible with the purpose and foreseeable environment of the EDM concert,” where people are expected to stand, dance and jump, the complaint alleges. Once concertgoers started removing the cushions from the backs of the seats — exposing the poles — the company should have noticed and removed the seats, attorneys argue.
The complaint asks for an unspecified amount of economic and noneconomic damages.
“What happened to Ms. Hayward was an unnecessary tragedy,” said one of Hayward’s attorneys, Elizabeth Hart. “Our goal is to hold the responsible persons accountable and seek justice on Ms. Hayward’s behalf.”
Read more Wrong-way driver intentionally crashed on I-70 near Utah border, investigators say
Learfield could not be reached for comment before publication.
