Kelly Rolton (left), and Jessie Rolton (right) at the Pink concert before Jessie broke her ankle in three places.

Pink fan left 'in agony' after concert violence leads to broken ankle

Author: Rachel Maher,
Publish Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2024, 2:33PM

A Pink fan is awaiting surgery after a fellow concert-goer allegedly pushed and stood on her, breaking her ankle in three places.

Jessie Rolton, 33, attended Saturday’s concert at Eden Park with 31-year-old sister Kelly Rolton and has been left “gutted” after being injured during the first song.

Rolton said the issue began just before Pink came on when the men in front of her refused to let her sister pass.

She alleged the men started to get aggressive when she attempted to return to her sister in the crowd, yelling at her and pushing her back. Others in the crowd tried to diffuse the situation as the men started to push harder and yelled louder.

“When the gig started, I started dancing to ‘get the party started’, the tallest one dumped their beer on my head,” Rolton alleged.

One of the men pushed Rolton so hard that she fell to the ground, her sister claimed she saw one of their wives kick her while she screamed in pain.

“I felt my foot click or pop or whatever break and I knew it was broken,” Rolton said.

“I was screaming that they’d broken it, the short one of the two stood on my foot and was looking at me so I couldn’t get up.”

Kelly Rolton (left), and Jessie Rolton (right) at the Pink concert before Jessie broke her ankle in three places.

Rolton said the incident happened during the first song, forcing the sisters to miss out on the entirety of the concert they had been excited about for so long.

“It was so disappointing,” Rolton said.

“I hobbled out of the crowd in a lot of pain.”

The medical staff at the event sent her to hospital, where it was found she had three fractures in her ankle. She is now awaiting surgery to place plates and screws into her foot.

Police have informed her there was “not much they could do” due to the hoards of concert-goers.

The sisters were unable to enjoy the concert after Jessie's ankle broke during the first song. Photo / Carson Bluck

An Eden Park spokesperson said they reached out to Rolton and are “very concerned” about the incident.

“The safety and wellbeing of everyone at an event at Eden Park is our utmost priority, and we do not tolerate anti-social or harmful behaviour at any level,” the spokesperson said.

They are working with police to review the incident and “take necessary action”.

A police spokesperson confirmed inquiries into the incident were ongoing.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.