Horrified circus audience watch trapeze artist Lisa Skinner fall during 1st Brisbane performance in failed gravity-defying stunt

The circus brings joy and happiness, but it could also be a fatal place when performances go wrong such as when a tiger killed in 2014 an eight-year-old girl who was an audience at the Leheledu Amusement Park in Chonqing, China. On Sunday, a gravity-defying stunt in Australia resulted in the fall of an Australian female trapeze artist before a horrified audience.

9 News reports that three-time Olympic gymnast Lisa Skinner fell from a trapeze while performing at the first matinee performance of Cirque du Soleil in Brisbane. She was several metres suspended on a ring when Skinner fell to the ground.

Paramedics rushed to the aid of the 35-year-old trapeze artist who initially could not move while Skinner was assisted by stage staff and carried on a stretcher by ambulance paramedic. She was conscious, breathing and in a stable condition when Skinner was rushed to the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

Brisbane Times reports that Skinner, who has been performing in Cirque Soleil shows for 10 years, was treated at the emergency room for several hours. She is responsive, safe and under great medical care, Jessica LeBouf, associate company manager for Kooza, the new show of Cirque de Soleil, says.

Kooza, according to Cirque du Soleil’s website, is a return to the circus origins which combines acrobatic performance and the art of clowning “while exploring fear, identity, recognition and power.

Two weeks before the accident, Skinner says her stunt, which defies gravity, has her seven or eight metres without safety wherein she is spinning and doing trick is, out and around a hoop. The gymnast says it is one of Cirque’s shows where people “literally scream in terror, like the wheel of death.”

On Sunday, she cheated death as the audience screamed in terror when they witnessed Skinner plummet several metres down. According to Metrosource, aerial workouts such as trapeze acts have health benefits – although it also has high risks. Trapeze training drastically changes muscle groups faster than traditional exercises.

Trapeze artists like Skinner boost their flexibility and motion ranges while strengthening their glutes, lower back, legs, core and upper body. Besides being a health booster, aerial exercises improve mental health since students of the Trapeze School New York – which has branches in Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago and New York City – report feelings of improved focus, self-esteem, strength, mood, patience, empowerment, improved sleep patterns and weight loss.