Trapeze artist, 29, dies after falling and hitting her head during practice session while trapped in Spain with travelling circus during coronavirus lockdown
- Guadalupe Videla, 29, smashed her skull on the ground in a freak accident in Beasain
- She plunged 5 feet and missed a safety mat by inches and was rushed to hospital
- She had only just joined Il Circo Italiano after arriving from Andorra
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A trapeze artist trapped in a Spanish town because of the coronavirus crisis has died after falling and hitting her head during a practice session.
Uruguayan Guadalupe Videla, 29, smashed her skull on the ground in a freak accident after plunging around five feet and missing a safety mat by inches.
She was rushed to hospital but died hours later.
The tragedy happened in the Basque town of Beasain, a half-hour drive south of the city of San Sebastian, where Guadalupe had been stranded since the middle of March with the circus she worked for.
Uruguayan Guadalupe Videla, 29, smashed her skull on the ground in a freak accident after plunging around five feet and missing a safety mat by inches in Beasain, Spain
She had only just joined Il Circo Italiano after arriving from Andorra.
A routine police investigation is underway into her death.
Circus bosses paid tribute to Guadalupe in an emotional social media post, saying: ‘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.
Guadalupe had been stranded since the middle of March with the circus she worked for. She had only just joined Il Circo Italiano after arriving from Andorra.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. Guadalupe will always be in our hearts.’
Devastated friend Paola Tapia said: ‘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”.’
As well as Spain and Argentina, Guadalupe’s love of the circus had taken her to countries including Panama
Edgardo Fonticelli said of the tragedy involving the trapeze artist, from the Uruguayan capital Montevideo: ‘What a loss. Such a young artist.’
As well as Spain and Argentina, Guadalupe’s love of the circus had taken her to countries including Panama.
A couple of months before her death she shared an old 2013 photo with friends of her with her first tattoo and joked: ‘My first tattoo and this is how I started. Let’s go for more.’
Her devastated colleagues are hoping to start performing in Beasain at the start of June once an easing of lockdown restrictions enables the circus to re-open.
The accident that led to her death occurred as she was practising for a new show with other acrobats.
Circus director Pele Rossi, insisting she might only have been injured if she had not fallen from such a low height, said: ‘If she had been higher up when she fell she would have had time to twist round.’