Trapeze artist dies after falling 5ft and missing safety mat while rehearsing

A trapeze artist has died after falling and hitting her head when she missed her safety mat by inches during a practice session.

Guadalupe Videla, 29, smashed her skull on the ground after she fell around five feet during the practice session in Beasain, Spain. She died a few hours later in hospital.

The circus performer is originaly from Uruguay but had been staying in the Basque town just south of San Sebastian after finding herself trapped during lockdown. She had only just joined Il Circo Italiano after arriving from a previous post in Andorra.

Police in Spain are investigating her death but colleagues said the accident happened during a practice session with other acrobats.

In an emotional post online, her circus bosses wrote: ‘An angel left us.

‘We know that she will continue showing off her beauty and talent and the fantastic smile she always gifted us from Heaven.

‘We will always miss the way she made the impossible possible.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. Guadalupe will always be in our hearts.’

Circus director Pele Rossi told reporters Guadalupe may have survived the fall if she had more room to turn, adding: ‘If she had been higher up when she fell she would have had time to twist round.’

Devastated friend Paola Tapia paid tribute online, writing: ‘Beat your wings and fly so high where sadness never reaches you.

‘Fly so fast you will triumph over your adversities.

‘You lived your life as you wanted and you travelled the world as you wished.

‘You were happy and you became an angel my friend. Follow your path with those wings you always dreamed of having.

‘We are going to miss you so much. My heart is broken but you would tell me, my friend don’t cry.’

Guadalupe’s love of the circus had taken her across the world, and had been planning to perform in Beasain at the start of June as Spain has begun to ease its lockdown measures, allowing the circus to reopen.

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