Girl Is Suing Steve Aoki For Breaking Her Neck When He Went Raver-Rafting At A Show

MOST people know Steve Aoki’s schtick at his shows: Throw cake into the crowd, inflate a raft and go “raver rafting” on top of everyone. It happens at every show like clockwork.

Brittany Hickman apparently didn’t know this when she attended an Aoki show for the first time at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego in May 2012. According to ABC News 10, Hickman ended up UNDER Aoki’s raft in the crowd. Then, when he jumped 20-feet from a rafter on the stage into the raft, she was allegedly knocked unconscious. More or less, it sounds like he broke her neck.

Here’s a pic of the jump from that particular show obtained by ABC News 10. I’ve seen Aoki a couple times over the last few years and I’ve NEVER witnessed him take a crowd dive this big. This is right before Hickman’s neck was allegedly broken by Aoki:

She spent three days in the hospital with head trauma and is still recovering, with doctors noting that she’s lucky to not be paralyzed by the incident.

Now she’s suing Steve Aoki and the Hard Rock Hotel.

She said she felt foggy and confused. They asked her where she was and she said Scottsdale.

“They released me back into the concert. At the point when I walked outside, that’s when I realized where I was,” said Hickman. She said she didn’t know she had head trauma or who caused it until they left the concert.

“That Steve Aoki had jumped and actually hit me in the head and I was knocked out,” said Hickman.

Hickman said she left San Diego and the pain got worse. She went to the hospital for a CAT scan.

“The doctor comes in and he says ‘don’t move.’ The medics come over and start to put a neck brace on me. And I remember thinking what’s going on. And the doctor said you broke your neck,” said Hickman.

The doctors told Hickman she could have paralyzed herself in between the time she left San Diego and went to the hospital.

“If I would have thrown my arms above my head or reached for something, I could have paralyzed myself,” she said.

Hickman said she was in the hospital for three days and wasn’t allowed to work for two months.

“I just want to be back to the way I was before,” she said.

Trial is set for late August, 2015. You have to feel for her. Be careful at those shows, people.

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Brandon Wenerd is BroBible's publisher, writing on this site since 2009. He writes about sports, music, men's fashion, outdoor gear, traveling, skiing, and epic adventures. Based in Los Angeles, he also enjoys interviewing athletes and entertainers. Proud Penn State alum, former New Yorker. Email: brandon@brobible.com