Circus Acrobat Who Miraculously Survived 25-Foot Fall Asked God to Save Her as She Plummeted Into Audience
An eighth-generation circus star, who miraculously survived a 25-foot fall while performing a routine acrobatic stunt, said she asked God to save her as she plunged into the audience.
Vicki Garcia, who along with her husband, Pablo, work for the Circo Hermanos Vazquez touring circus company and comprise the high-flying acrobatic team called the "Duo Garcia," was performing a routine "rocket" stunt last Thursday at a circus in Houston when she slipped and her harness wasn't fastened tight.
As soon as Garcia, who is an eighth-generation circus performer on her mom's side and a seventh-generation performer on her dad's side, slipped, the 17-year circus vet quickly fell approximately 25-feet into the front of the crowd.
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Although a 25-foot fall could be fatal, Garcia was fortunate to escape the fall with just minor bruises. On Tuesday, Garcia opened up about her fall for the first time in an ABC News interview, where she explained that there may have been some divine intervention that saved her life.
"I just remember in my head just slipping. And I said, 'Please God, save me! Please God, save me!" Garcia said, as she recounted the incident, explaining that it felt like everything was moving in slow motion as she fell.
Footage of the incident, which was filmed by a member of the audience, shows Garcia holding onto her husband's arms as he hung by his feet from the bottom of a swinging rocket. As Garcia transitioned from holding onto her husband's arms to hold onto a loop, she lost her grip and plummeted to the ground.
Lorena Vignaud, the circus' general manager, ruled the fall was a result of "human error," which Garcia admits was the case.
"I had my safety cable and I kept my safety cable in and then I passed the loop to my husband," Garcia explained. "And as I was going into the position, I always check to see if my safety cables are in, but apparently I didn't clip it in far enough."
Garcia said that after she asked for God to save her, she can only remember being instructed not to move as she painfully laid in the seating area.
"The next thing I remember is somebody said, 'Don't move, don't move,'" she said. "I don't remember anything else until they were doing the X-rays in the hospital."
"A little bruise here and a little here, [it's] nothing," she continued.
Garcia, who is the mother of two young boys whom she hopes will one day join the family business, said that despite the terrifying fall, she can't wait to get back to performing.
"It's part of my life," she said. "It's what I do. I don't feel normal if I am not working."
