Here’s a story you simply do not read every day: A man in the US playing the role of a Medieval Knight has died after he accidentally impaled himself with his own lance while in the middle of a re-enactment.
[jwplayer 7ITt9Ari]
Peter Barclay died this past Saturday as a result of injuries sustained during a competition at a Medieval fair in Williamstown, Kentucky; roughly halfway between the cities of Lexington and Cincinnati.
COMING UP: A tragic accident takes the life of medieval reenactor Peter Barclay, killed by his own lance during a society for creative anachronism event in Kentucky. Details coming up NEXT on ABC7 News @ 5. #medieval #reenactment #accident pic.twitter.com/NloK33IB2S
— Richard Reeve (@richardreeve317) October 10, 2018
Barclay, a retired army lieutenant colonel, was reportedly competing in an equestrian game that involved riders using a two-metre long lance to pick up a paper plate while on horseback. Riders had to retrieve their lance from a hay bale, before riding to the spot of the plate and picking it up off the ground.
Witnesses at the scene reported that Barclay, whose stage name was “Master Terafan Greydragon,” retrieved the plate and was finishing the course when “he lost control of [the lance] or it turned, hit the ground, and as his horse was moving, the tip of it went into him.”
Society of Creative Anachronism president John Fulton stated that Barclay then “got off the horse, took some steps and people noticed he was bleeding,” before he subsequently collapsed. Emergency medical teams attended the scene and flew Barclay to a hospital, but he died before arriving.
Barclay’s brother John confirmed his sibling’s demise, stating the metal-tipped jousting stick had struck Barclay in the sternum.
Barclay had been an experienced re-enactor with more than 30 years of experience, and participated in similar events at least two to three times per month.
While no autopsy has been completed at this time, his death is nonetheless being officially ruled as an accident by the controlling coroner’s office.
The SCA has opened an investigation into the accident in the hopes of preventing any future potential deaths.
