InstagramA Bachelorette contestant is in a medically induced coma following a tragic paragliding accident. Eric Hill, who appears as one of Andi Dorfman's suitors on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette, was critically injured when his parachute partially collapsed, sending him into a mountainside, according to UFA Battalion Chief Brian Anderton.
"It doesn't seem like he fell an extremely long distance, but the velocity that he went into the hillside was enough to cause some trauma," Anderton told KUTV.
ABC has not announced the names of the new Bachelorette cast, however E! News has confirmed that Hill is one of Andi's suitors on the upcoming season, set to premiere May 19. We are told that Hill's accident did not happen on the show and he was already eliminated at the time of his accident, so it is not a production issue, even though the show is still being filmed.
One insider who works on the show points out, "This is really the first time something terrible has happened between time of filming and airing the season so the network will have to figure out how to handle, and if it merits somehow editing show differently." Producers are still gathering information and figuring out how best to proceed.
According to Hill's friend, Derek Mazur, Hill was wearing a helmet when his accident happened.
"He just came down the mountain a little bit. He was getting super low over here and just took a little turbulence and collapsed part of his wing, and it kind of spun him up," Mazur told KUTV. "He's well experienced. He knows what he's doing. Just kind of that time of year. Spring, the air is really rough and a lot of turbulence."
Hill launched The Global Odyssey in February 2013 with the goal of visiting all 195 United Nations-recognized countries in record time.