A New York Mets fan is reportedly suing the team after he says a t-shirt fired from a shirt cannon hit him in the face and left him with permanent vision damage.
According to multiple New York news outlets, the lawsuit by Alex Swanson claims he was severely injured during the June 5, 2019, game at Citi Field against the San Francisco Giants.
The New York Daily News reports Swanson and his three sons were in the stands in right-center field. During the seventh-inning stretch, Swanson was hoping to get a t-shirt when people who fire the cannons approached the area he was sitting. Swanson went to the railing, hoping to catch one. He reportedly claims one of the cannon operators seemed to be having problems with the device. Suddenly, the cannon fired 20 feet away from Swanson and allegedly sent a t-shirt straight into his face.
Swanson reportedly claims that he fell backward, hit his head and lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was taken to a nurses station but refused to go to the hospital.
The next day, Swanson reportedly learned through a CAT scan that he suffered a concussion and a detached retina. The lawsuit claims Swanson's eye and his vision are permanently damaged.
Swanson says he wants the Mets to stop using the cannons. His attorney said he's also seeking compensation for Swanson, but a monetary amount has not been given.
Several New York City news outlets said the Mets had not returned requests for comment as of Monday night.
In a similar case, the Houston Astros were hit with a $1 million lawsuit in April by a woman who says a t-shirt fired from a cannon by the team's mascot shattered her finger. The suit claims the team was negligent. The team said then that it didn't agree with the allegations.
West Point Military Academy did a risk assessment of t-shirt cannons in 2016. It determined that shirts fired from them have kinetic energy 15 times that of a paintball gun, nine times that of a pellet gun and nearly half that of a 9mm handgun.