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Phillies fan injured after Phillie Phanatic's flying hot dog hit her in the face

When the Phillie Phanatic rolled out onto the field at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night in the middle of the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals, fans jumped to their feet.

The big green mascot came out with his hot dog launcher, and was about to launch them into the stands.

Who doesn’t love a hot dog at a baseball game — especially a free one?

As it turns out, those hot dogs can hurt.

Kathy McVay was seated behind home plate when the Phanatic started shooting hot dogs into the crowd when suddenly one was headed straight for her head.

“And then the next thing I know he shot it in our direction, and bam! It hit me like a ton of bricks,” McVay told ABC 6 in Philadelphia. “My glasses flew.”

The hot dogs were wrapped in duct tape, so that they wouldn’t fall apart mid air. Except McVay told ABC 6 that she couldn’t catch the hot dog or knock it out of the air because of a shoulder injury that she is having surgery on next week. So the ballpark snack drilled her right in the face.

McVay went to the emergency room that night for a CAT scan, and has multiple bruises on her face — which requires ice every 20 minutes.

“I have a small hematoma in my eye,” she told ABC 6. “And mostly, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. It’s going to go down the side of my face.”

The Phanatic, naturally, felt terrible about what happened, and the team reached out to her on Tuesday to apologize. They even offered her tickets to another game in the future.

McVay is an avid Phillies fan, too, and said she doesn’t plan to pursue any legal action. And while it was the first time a fan was injured by a flying hot dog in Philadelphia, it’s not completely unheard of.

A man in Kansas City lost a lawsuit against the Royals after he was hit in the face by a hot dog thrown from Sluggerrr, the Royals’ mascot, in 2009. The man suffered a detached retina and sued for negligence, though a jury found neither him nor the Royals at fault in 2015.

And while she understands that her injury is rather unusual and comical, McVay still had advice to give to other fans in the stands.

“Just to be aware, because you never know,” McVay told ABC 6. “I understand a baseball, but not a hot dog. It gives people a good laugh, and if that makes somebody chuckle, then that’s fine.”

A Phillies fan was hit in the face by a flying hot dog from the Phanatic’s iconic hot dog gun on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, and was sent to the hospital. (Getty Images)
A Phillies fan was hit in the face by a flying hot dog from the Phanatic’s iconic hot dog gun on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, and was sent to the hospital. (Getty Images)

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