I was working as security for the BTS concert in Boston when my life changed forever. I thought I would be safe, responsible, and really good at my job. Well, part of that was true…
I arrived from the airport the morning of the first concert, checked into my hotel, dropped off my luggage, freshened up, and changed into my work uniform. I packed my essentials in my purse and rode the employee shuttle into the stadium, wanting to get acquainted with the area first. I arrived after about an hour, then went to meet the manager in person- we had only ever spoken on the phone and video calls, since I lived in Portland. I also met some of the other employees and realized right away that I was going to have lots of fun- they were such a great group of people!!
We started walking around the stadium, learning how to do safety inspections and guide anyone who was injured or needed medical attention. We walked all around the upper levels, then headed down to the floor. We started at the corner where the members enter and exit, then began walking around the perimeter of the stage, inspecting the barriers to make sure they were secure. We found one area that had not been assembled, so the manager called a tech over and they began fixing it. We then stopped walking around the stage and went onto the actual stage, for some reason. This was the first mistake that would lead to my ultimate doom.
The stage was fine, but instead of walking down and heading to finish the barrier inspection, the manager went back down the same way and repeated the barriers we had already checked. I thought this was odd, but figured he knew what he was doing, so I didn’t mention anything at that time. By then, it was time to count/label all of the chairs set out for the floor seats, and we were each given a section to handle, so I was too busy to circle back to the barrier area we had missed. Once my section was done, I noticed a coworker struggling, so I offered to help her and soon we figured out the issue- she was missing an entire row!
Luckily, we had been shown where the extra chairs were, so we began setting them out, while the manager brough zip ties for us. That took a while, so by the time we were finished, it was time for the soundcheck ticket holders to enter, and we got busy directing people to their correct areas. This took two hours, as many people wanted to take photos or buy things before they actually got to their seats. Once the BTS members appeared for soundcheck though, EVERYONE was at their assigned area, I can tell you that.
So soundcheck was going smoothly, nothing out of the ordinary, when I noticed two members headed down the ramp we had not checked the barriers for. It was in my section, so I quickly motioned two of my coworkers over to join me at the barrier, just in case. I reached it first, found it was not secured to anything and was extremely wobbly, then tried to tell the two members not to come closer. They did not see me, so I told my coworkers to each grab the corners of the barrier, holding it against the corner anchors, just in case, while I went to the middle, preparing to block whoever attempted to jump onto it, since it would most definitely not hold their weight if they ran/jumped on it.
Unfortunately for me, Joon decided that today was the day he was going to be crazy at soundcheck and he literally came running towards the barrier at full speed, which I knew would not end well. Lucky for him (and me) my coworkers were able to keep the sides mostly secured when he reached the barrier. Unluckily for me, he did not jump on the chair part like usual, he ran right up to the barrier and attempted to jump over it… The momentum of his run/jump carried his entire torso over the barrier, where I was waiting, arms outstretched, kneeling on the ground, knowing I could NOT let him hit the floor. His upper body swung down, his head connected with my skull, my arms caught his shoulders just in time, and using my own adrenaline/motion, I was able to push him back over without a single scratch on him. He was shocked, not knowing exactly what had happened, then saw my entire face covered in blood, kneeling on the floor, arms covering my nose/mouth, eyes staring back up at him in shock.
He wanted to check on me, but of course he was in the middle of his actual job, so he could not stop and by the time it was over, I had been taken to the medical area, then immediately driven to the hospital by ambulance. I received multiple X-rays, IVs, etc. and by the time the concert had ended, I was in a hospital room, all cleaned up, sedated to let my body begin healing. Joon was beside himself and angry he wasn’t allowed to visit, but as everyone told him, there was nothing he could do anyway- I was in the hospital and clearly needed medical attention he could not provide. This did not help and he had a terrible night, not getting any sleep, worried about the worker he had injured, not knowing how serious it was.
The next morning, when visiting hours started at 8am, he showed up with Yoongi, his best friend, and demanded/asked forcefully to be allowed to visit me. I was still being kept unconscious, but he did not care- he was not going to wait any longer. One of the nurses led him into my room, where she then explained everything that was happening, while he stared in disbelief at my severely broken body. Even Yoongi was shocked at the damage Joon had done. My nose was broken, so there was medical tape all over my face. Luckily, none of my teeth had been knocked out, so that was the silver lining. Unfortunately, due to his head acting like a bowling ball when it connected to mine, my entire face was also swollen, my eyes unable to open and my lips/cheeks being bruised from the impact. I had a breathing tube down my throat, since I could not use my nose at all, and IVs in both my hands. My shoulders were wrapped tightly in bandages and secured to my side, since both my shoulders had been dislocated when I used my body to launch him back over the barrier, him being much bigger than me.
The nurse explained how I needed a blood transfusion, due to blood loss at the stadium, plus they had added extra medication/vitamins that would help me heal faster, but it was very painful/unpleasant, so that’s why they had sedated me. All of this was such a surprise to Joon that he could not believe one person could risk their life just so he wouldn’t get hurt. He cautiously came over and held my fingers in his hand, then knelt down next to the bed and asked me to forgive him, promising that he would spend his entire life making it up to me if I would only accept his apology. Obviously, I could not respond, so Yoongi stepped in, patting Joon on the shoulder, and offered to help him write me a song, which was how they expressed themselves usually. Joon accepted this easily, then asked the nurse if it was ok for them to play Yoongi’s guitar- she said yes, but not too loudly.
They spent the next three hours working on lyrics and melodies, not really landing on anything they loved, when the rest of the members suddenly arrived, giving them a distraction and lots of extra opinions. The others were shocked at the damage Joon’s head had done but not totally surprised that he hurt me because he often is called the god of destruction, so now they knew it included people as well as objects. They listened to Yoongi and Joon’s ideas, offered their own, and helped them make a better version with all their vocals combined, making it sound really amazing. I had no clue any of this was happening, but the nurses made sure to check on them to see if they needed anything. Soon it was time for them to head to the stadium for their next soundcheck, so they said goodbye to the nurses (and me), with all of them making sure to pat my leg, squeeze my hand, or kiss my head, which would have been hilarious if I had been awake for it.
I was actually doing really well, so the doctor wanted to remove the breathing tube and let me breathe on my own. I was not happy when they woke me up, then pulled out the tube, causing me to choke and gasp for air. I had no voice, could not see anything, and felt like I’d been run over by a dump truck. I couldn’t lift my arms or use my hands, and every time I tried to move my head to either side, pain radiated down my neck, then cascaded down my spine. I was happy to be able to breathe on my own, but unhappy about not having vision or speech yet to express myself. I was worried about Joon, so I asked if he was ok, using my fingers to spell words in sign language, the only way I could communicate at that time.
Luckily, one of the nurses knew ASL, so she was able to understand me and then give me answers. She assured me that he was actually fine, had already visited, and was shocked at the damage he had done accidentally, not realizing how strong his skull truly was. I was not convinced that he was actually fine, since I hadn’t seen him myself, but the nurse promised I would see him soon enough to tell if she was right or not. The doctor wanted to sedate me again, but I refused- my brain was fine and I hated feeling like time was being wasted just because I couldn’t see or use my arms. Whatever medicine they were giving me for pain was incredibly effective because I soon began feeling like I was floating on clouds and drifted off to sleep, which the nurse was happy about- she wanted me to heal and be able to see Joon for myself.
They had been trying different things to help my facial swelling go down, always careful not to touch my broken nose, and were hopeful that soon I would be able to see out of my eyes. My mouth had finally begun to look like normal, so I was able to drink something when I woke up a few hours later. My voice was still extremely scratchy, so I preferred either using ASL or writing on a notepad, which everyone understood.
