Twitch, Lenovo under fire after devastating ‘foam pit’ injuries at TwitchCon

destructoid.com:

Streaming site Twitch and PC merch manufacturer Lenovo came under fire this weekend, following a series of serious and devastating injuries that occurred at the former’s live event TwitchCon 2022 — The separately occurring accidents all took place at Lenovo’s “foam pit”, where attendees were taking part in pugilistic combat similar to that of ’90s TV game show Gladiators.

The battles, which were live streamed by Lenovo and other con attendees, saw players fight it out on small raised podiums placed above a “foam pit” — ostensibly a large area filled with foam cubes to prevent the loser from injuring themselves when falling from said podiums. However, it appears that the pit was much shallower than it appeared, with no dismount assistance, which lead to several players severely injuring themselves when falling, jumping, or simply dropping down from their raised platform.

Well, I broke my back in two places and am getting surgery to put a meter rod in for support today. Send your support. When it rains it pours and I am definitely feeling the rain right now.

— adriana chechik (@adrianachechik) October 9, 2022

The worst incident took place on Sunday, when streamer and adult film star Adriana Chechik suffered a horrific back injury. Following her victory over streamer opponent EdyBot, Chechik did an excitable “ass-bump” into what appeared to be a deep swamp of soft foam, but was, in fact, a fairly thin layer on a matted, hard floor surface. Immediately hurt, Chechik calls out for instant assistance, saying “I can’t get up” while commentators jest and tell onlookers that the actor is, in fact, “ok”.

Tragically, it turns out that Chechik had broken her back in two places on impact, and has since undergone surgery to implant a