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Hong-Kong
CNN
—

A Chinese acrobat who lost his wife and performance partner a terrifying fall who was on stage last year was seriously injured at another show this week, state media reported.

Zhang Kai, 39, plunged several meters into a hard cement ground while performing an aerial silk exercise on Monday evening, after two pieces of cloth he was holding broke loose from the top of a crane.

The horrific moment was captured by Zhang’s own livestream of his performance in Henan province on Douyin, TikTok’s sister app in China, according to the state-run Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.

Zhang, who suffered facial injuries and leg fractures, was out of life-threatening condition on Wednesday but remained in intensive care, his family told the Chengdu Business Daily, another state-run newspaper.

Zhang’s late wife, surnamed Sun, fell to her death during an aerial performance with her husband in a village in Anhui province in April last year, sparking horror and outrage on social media over the lack of safety measures for performers.

Online footage of that incident showed the couple being pulled high into the air above a large outdoor stage by a crane. As they floated in the air, Sun wrapped her arms around her husband’s head and clung to him in an act of transition. But she lost her grip and threw herself onto the hard stage amid screams from the audience. Zhang tried to catch her with his legs, but failed, the footage showed.

The tragedy caused shock on Chinese social media. Many users wondered why Sun was not wearing a seat belt and why there was no safety net or crash mat on the ground. Others called for stricter regulations for the acrobatic industry and better protection for performers.

An investigation into last year’s incident by the local government found that the company organizing the show had not obtained prior permission from authorities and had failed to provide essential safety protection and emergency measures during the performance. The use of a crane during the performance was also contrary to regulations, the government said.

The Chinese Acrobats Association issued a statement at the time calling on acrobatic groups and artists to pay more attention to safety measures.

In his biography of Douyin, Zhang, a father of two, said last year’s incident “took away the person I loved most, leaving me alone to support the entire family.”

Before Monday’s performance, Zhang said in a video about Douyin that he took the gig to fill in for a friend who was scheduled to perform but could not make it to the show that night. He called it a ‘new challenge’.

“Maybe when you see this, like me, you will feel a mix of sadness and indescribable emotion,” he said, turning his phone around to show the construction crane used to hang the performance side. “Later I will use this account to show you live.”

On Douyin, many users wished Zhang a speedy recovery. Some urged him to find another job for his children, citing the risks.