On September 11, 2021, Miami Hard Rock Stadium housed a college football game between the Miami Hurricanes and Appalachian State teams. However, the highlight of the game had nothing to do with the actual players.
Despite a rigorous check at the entrance, someone managed to get into the stadium without a ticket: a crafty little puss. During the first half of the season-opening game, fans were shocked to see the cat hanging on a wire above them.
Tense moments at Hard Rock Stadium
“When we looked up, we saw an animal’s butt,” Kimberly Cromer, in attendance, explained to 7news.
The black-and-white cat was clinging for dear life to a horizontal wire attached to a deck. No one knew how he ended there in the first place. But the feline was straining to keep its grip on the cable.
Spectators in the adjacent section rushed to assist him. Some adopted a position to catch the cat while others tried to pull it up.
“They were attempting to grab it from above and couldn’t reach it, but they were frightening it downward,” said Craig Cromer, a facility manager at the University of Miami and season-ticket holder who brings the flag to every home game with his wife Kimberly.
To the horror of the public, the cat eventually let go of the wire. He dropped to the lower level of the stadium, where he was swiftly caught by Craig and Kimberly using an American flag as a makeshift net.
The catch, recorded by dozens of cameras made the crowd go wild. The Cromers got lengthy applause from fellow spectators. Their move was undoubtedly the most-talked-about action of the game.
Dylan Marinov, a University of Miami freshman, got a proper close-up at the nerve-wracking moments. The freshman subsequently posted a video online. “My video received like 10 million views on TikTok.”, said Marinov.
The aftermath
Right after, the cat was examined by student Emilia Weiss, a certified emergency veterinary medic. The cat had popped a hip when he bounced from the flag to the ground. Weiss and a colleague succeeded in putting the hip back into place even though the terrified kitten was uncooperative.
Hard Rock Stadium kept fans informed on the cat’s condition through its Twitter account. Following the event, the Stadium representatives praised the fans’ quick reaction in saving the cat. Furthermore, they announced a donation to the Humane Society of Miami.
According to the official bio, the Humane Society of Miami is an adoption center that strives to place each animal “into a loving family.”
The owner of the cat is still unknown but 7news reported that the feline left the event with a woman.
News reports pointed out the fact that the incident unfolded on 9/11 with an American flag involved.