Performer 'not hurt' by trapeze tumble

ROBYN EDIE/The Southland Times

ONLY A CARPET BURN: Zirka Circus lead act Huan Huan Zhang proves she is just fine after a fall from a trapeze during a performance in Invercargill.

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A circus performer who "smashed" to the ground during a trapeze act on Sunday escaped with only a carpet burn to her elbow.

Chinese acrobat Huan Huan Zhang was performing with a male acrobat about 20 minutes into the 1pm show at the Zirka Circus on Gala St when she fell from a height of between 2 and 3 metres, to the horror of spectators.

A member of the public who was at the show with her children told The Southland Times the acrobat seemed to slip through the man's ankles and crashed heavily to the floor.

"She smashed down to the floor and I, of course, covered the children's eyes," she said.

The performer did not move and had to be carried from the tent by staff, she said.

After about two minutes of silence the show resumed, she said.

Her children were upset by the accident and wanted to leave immediately but they stayed until halftime before going, she said.

"It was all very awful. It was kind of a guilty feeling sitting there after the accident. There should have been an announcement made that there's been an accident," she said.

But through a translator the 18-year-old performer yesterday said she was fine.

All she had to show for the fall was a tiny carpet burn on her left elbow, Zhang said.

While the tumble did give her a bit of a fright, it was not enough to put her off, she said.

"She tells me she's a brave girl," the translator and circus owner Jenni Hou said.

Zirka general manager James Finlayson said Zhang, who was the lead act in the show, was carried off to find out if everything was all right and the only problem was the graze.

Zhang was shaken but returned to perform in the second half of the show, he said.

"Every week in the show someone will fall off a bike or something – that's just part of it," he said.

"It's like rugby ... rugby players fall awkwardly and hurt their knee, we get a bit of that, but it's very unusual that anything happens when they're seriously injured."

The crowd who stayed for the second half would have realised Zhang was back again and okay but there were no public announcements made during the show, he said. She also took a full part in the 4pm performance.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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