West Ham fan reaches out to Crystal Palace ball boy he left in tears after falling on him
A Crystal Palace ball boy was left in tears after celebrating West Ham fans accidentally collapsed an advertising board on top of him - and he's now been extended an offer
A West Ham supporter who was involved in the scary incident with a Crystal Palace ball boy has apologised – and offered to host him in the reverse fixture.
The boy had to be rescued from a potential crush after an advertising hoarding collapsed under the weight of West Ham fans in the aftermath of a goal at Selhurst Park. Celebrating Hammers fans rushed forward in excitement after Tomas Soucek’s opening goal on Saturday, causing the LED board to fall on the ball boy, who was sitting close by.
Luckily, Soucek noticed the potential disaster and, with the help of team-mate Jarrod Bowen, managed to pull him out from underneath. Although the boy was crying and understandably shaken, he escaped relatively unscathed.
West Ham fan Jack Levin was inadvertently caught up in the chaos, having been pushed forward by those behind him. He ended up toppling onto the advertising board alongside some of his fellow fans and West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta, hurting his ankle and grazing his knees.
Mr Levin, 62, praised Soucek for his quick thinking, telling MailOnline : “If Tomas hadn’t got him out, he could’ve been badly injured and thank God that he wasn’t. My friends who were with me were very concerned about him too. I saw that Tomas and Jarrod Bowen and some of the other players were looking after him. But the lad looked quite shocked and upset.
“I am sorry for what he went through. It was nobody’s fault really. There was a gate that gave way on the advertising boards first and then people fell on top of each other and I was shoved into it too with the LED board breaking.
“I am getting in touch with Crystal Palace to see if I can speak to the boy's parents and get him to come to West Ham as a guest for the return fixture later in the season.”
The ball was shown in tears while Bowen and Soucek tried to console him, but he ended the match in a better state, with the England forward’s shirt as a gift. "Yeah, I just managed to grab him out as quickly as possible," Bowen told beIN Sports. "It was just instinct to do it. I’ve seen him after the game, he’s got my top now. He’s smiling. He’s all good now, which is good to see."
The incident happened in the 67th minute of the match after Soucek pounced on a loose ball in the Palace penalty area to beat Dean Henderson via a deflection. West Ham made it 2-0 when Bowen was found by Max Kilman on the break and cut inside to blast a finish in at the near post.
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