Firefighter gets visit from Nolan Ryan after 30-foot drop from stands chasing a foul ball. Four people hurt in seats below.

At the moment Tyler Morris is becoming the best known firefighter/paramedic in the United States. The 25-year-old is not getting the attention for his work at the Lake Cities Fire Department in Corinth, Texas. Instead he is in the spotlight as a fall victim. His 30-foot plunge didn’t come during a daring rescue attempt, but rather from his efforts to snag a foul ball at last night’s Texas Rangers game in Arlington.   

Friends say Morris is going to make a full recovery and is already joking about his drop into the seats below. Friends and family says Morris has a head injury and severely sprained ankle.     

He was attending the game with four co-workers. I know what some of you are thinking, but one friend at the game told reporters Morris only consumed one beer and that was before the game started.  

Firefighter/paramedic Tyler Morris from family provided photo.

Here’s more in excerpts from an article by KTVT-TV:  

Morris has a head injury and seriously sprained left ankle but Kevin Conner, who was with his friend at the game, says Morris has no broken bones or internal injuries.   

The Rangers were playing the Cleveland Indians when Nelson Cruz fouled a pitch into the club level of Section 235. According to Conner, Morris was able to grab the railing for a split second, before falling more than 30-feet into the seats below. Conner says his friend fell feet first.    

Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher and Rangers’ president, took the foul ball to Morris in the hospital Wednesday. Ben Westcott, Morris’s best friend, says the two are constantly reliving life’s memorable moments and have always talked about putting it down in a book. Westcott says Tuesday’s fall will now be an important part of that book. Four other fans, injured when Morris fell, were treated at the stadium. In 1994, the Rangers raised the railing height in upper Home Run Court after a Plano woman, who was posing for a picture, fell 30 feet during a baseball game. The other railings in the ballpark are the original height of 30 ¼ inches, which is above the international building code requirement of 26 inches.    

Also on STATter911 …

• For second time in a year firefighter falls out of stands at Rangers Ballpark going after ball. Brownwood FD Lt. Shannon Stone died on way to the hospital. – July 8, 2011
• Alexandria (VA) Fire Department Paramedic Joshua Weissman dies after fall off of I-395 bridge. Watch raw video of press conference. – February 9, 2012
• Chief makes tough call at Super Bowl. Arlington Fire Department’s Don Crowson says it was his decision to close temporary seating at Cowboys Stadium. – February 7, 2011
• There’s more than one way to fight a basement fire. Allentown, Pennsylvania Fire Department improvises at hoarder’s burning home. – August 31, 2011