NFL photographer suffers serious injury as Matthew Stafford, wife look on at Super Bowl parade
An unfortunate development took place during the Rams Super Bowl 56 celebration in Los Angeles on Wednesday. While the team was enjoying themselves, sports photographer Kelly Smiley took a nasty fall while capturing the event through her lens.
Cameras caught the moment, where Smiley fell while Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly Stafford looked on.
As you can see, Smiley is in the frame one moment, out of it next. A look of shock immediately takes over the faces of Matthew Stafford and Kelly Stafford. The Rams quarterback was in the midst of an alcohol-fueled celebration, fresh off giving a memorable speech at the podium. He walked back to gather himself, while Kelly Stafford ran towards the photographer.
Afterwards, Smiley took to Twitter to give an update on her condition as the clip went viral.
“That’s me,” tweeted Smiley. “Waiting at the ER for X-ray results. Both my cameras broke but I’m ok.”
Later, Smiley added an unfortunate update to the situation.
“Unfortunately I fractured my spine,” tweeted Smiley.
Hopefully, Smiley can get back on her feet and continue to capture amazing moments through her lens as soon as possible. To aid her, Smiley’s friend — fellow NFL photographer Tim Kothlow — set up a GoFundMe for Kelly.
“Kelly needs your help!” wrote Kothlow on GoFundMe. “Hey all, my name is Tim and Kelly is a dear friend of mine who needs your help.
“This morning (2/16/2022), while covering the Rams parade in Los Angeles, Kelly took a heavy fall off the stage while covering the event, and it landed her in the hospital with a fractured spine. The funds raised by this gofundme will help cover Kelly’s growing medical expenses as well as replace the camera gear that was severely damaged due to her fall. Since Kelly is a working photographer, she needs this gear to help keep her working after fully recovering.
“Kelly is loved by all who know her and is a well-respected individual in the photography community. Please consider donating to this gofundme to help Kelly hit the ground running after she heals up.”
As of Thursday morning, $2,715 of a $30,000 goal has been raised to help Kelly Smiley. If you would like to donate, you can visit the GoFundMe here.