A Moscow circus performer who fell during a rehearsal has been diagnosed with a brain injury and possible broken back, a circus employee said on Thursday.
Circus acrobat Yulia Volkova, 34, and her husband and partner in the Nikulin Old Moscow Circus, Alexander Volkov, fell for unexplained reasons late on Wednesday. Alexander suffered ankle and lower leg fractures. Both have been hospitalized.
"I have just returned from the hospital where Yulia is undergoing surgery. The doctors have been unable to locate all the injuries she has suffered," Boris Fedotov said, adding that the diagnosis would be specified later in the day.
The circus act the artists were rehearsing is considered very difficult and dangerous. It includes 330 seconds of performing in the air and wrapping their limbs in long swaths of cloth without using safety wires, similar to performances on a flying trapeze.
The Volkovs have worked for the Nikulin Circus, one of Russia's oldest circuses, since 2007.
MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti)
