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A “loving father” attending his son’s track meet has been identified as the spectator accidentally killed by a hammer at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on Sunday.
Wade Langston, 57, was fatally struck by a hammer during a track and field meet held at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse campus for high school students across Colorado, the El Paso County coroner’s offices revealed Monday, KRDO13 reported.
The tragedy happened around 9:30 a.m. during the weight-throwing event when a competitor threw their hammer that “cleared certified barriers” and struck Langston while he was protecting his wife and son from being hit by the 25 lb hammer.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department responded to the scene and declared the father dead.
A crowdfunding page set up for the hero dad confirmed he was at the event to cheer on his son.
“On Sunday, Jan. 26, Wade Langston attended his son’s track meet where he was fatally hit by a hammer during a weight event,” the page organizer, Tamara Rocha, Langston’s niece-in-law, wrote.
“Wade was a devoted husband, loving father, cherished brother and brother-in-law, fun uncle, and an even more fun great-uncle. He was a truly wonderful person who brought laughter to every room he entered with his great sense of humor.”
Langston leaves behind a wife and their son, a high school senior.
The fundraiser was set up to “support their son who is attending college in the fall.”
“All funds raised will go directly to his wife and son to help with college tuition,” Rocha shared.
The Colorado United Track Club that he was the father of one of its team members attending Vista Ridge High School in Colorado Springs, KKTV reported.
Following the freak accident, the remainder of the meet was canceled, and athletes and spectators were sent home.
The track and field event was one of three hosted by the university.
An unidentified parent in attendance said she had just finished watching their daughter compete in an event when she heard people screaming in horror.
“That individual happened to be in those bleachers right in front of that netting,” the parent told KRDO13. “I mean, it could have been anyone.”
Matt Krich, a throwing coach who was at the meet when Langston was killed, told the outlet that witnessing the fatal accident was “horrible for everybody.”
“It was just a complete, utter, terrible fluke,” Krich said.
The throwing coach, who said he knew Langston’s son but was not one of his athletes, described him as a “good kid.”
“I know him. He’s not one of my athletes, but I know him and he’s a good kid,” he told the outlet.
“He’s probably just dying inside right now. And I feel terrible for him.”
Another anonymous spectator at the event told KKTV that more could have been done to protect attendees.
“If it was certified, I would believe it would be higher up and there wouldn’t be seating there and they would have already tested it to see if there was any possible incident, anything that could be possibly happening before you had two hundred people there,” she said.
She claimed that others were also concerned about safety while at the event.
“This lady sat next to us and she commented about how the bleachers that were next to the hammer throw or the cage and she was like, ‘That’s terrifying, why is it next to that? “’ the witness recalled.
