By Balford Henry/Observer Senior Writer—
Copeland Forbes
Reggae insider Copeland Forbes is resting in Florida, where he went to seek medical attention after falling some 10 feet off a stage at a local concert production.
Forbes suffered the fall at Plantation Cove in St Ann last Saturday while attending the celebration of Junior Reid’s 60th “Earth Strong”.
However, Clyde McKenzie, who co-produced Forbes’ book, “Reggae My Life Is”, welcomed the fact that, apart from a fractured arm, there were no sign of broken bones and the popular road manager could, at least, soon continue promoting his latest tour .
“He was supposed to go to the orthopedic surgeon (Tuesday(, to see what’s happening to his body, but he ran some tests that showed that while his hand was fractured, he had no broken bones. But, you know, I think he is in a better place now, than he was three days ago,” McKenzie said.
He also expressed doubt that the tour of Europe, which would include Turkey, Greece and Italy, as well as a family cruise around Europe, would be affected by anything more than the sight of Forbes in a wheelchair, which Forbes purchased in Miami.
“I think he had a personal tour to do, which is family thing, going on a cruise in Europe, and he is going to use the opportunity to sell some books, too,” McKenzie added.
Forbes meanwhile recounted the incident in a post to Facebook. See statement in full below.
“Both myself and ‘On Stage’ TV host, Winford Williams, shared some great moments touring around the world. So when the first act from the Marley clan Julian Marley ascended the stairs to the stage to start his magnificent performance, he greeted me with a smile and a handshake, then proceeded to the stage where he literally lit the fuse to introduce his brother Stephen. Same kind of salutation from Ragga to me and a great Ragga smile.
“Behind Stephen was an entourage of his close associates and personal security, who proceeded to take up their posts at different parts of the stage. I decided to move from the top of the stairs and found a very cozy section on the far side of the monitor mixing board on the left of Engineer Noel Hearn, who did a splendid job on the stage.
“Then suddenly, one of Stephen’s security moved to the stage left of the moniker. So I stepped back out of the way so that he could reach his position. To my surprise, when I stepped back to give him room to get to his designated post, not knowing that the tarpaulin on the side of the monitor area had no backing or re-enforcement, I stepped back in mid-air.
“Going down backwards without seeing where the drop would be wasn’t a nice experience, which could have been fatal. While going down backward, I grabbed on to the tarpaulin to, at least make the invisible drop lighter: The tarpaulin gave way, then felt my right hand hit one of the metal braces that supports the stage; then my left hand hit another metal brace so hard that my US$750 Invicta watch was torn apart from my wrist; Still haven’t found that watch up until now.
“Going down to the final landing place on the ground, almost severed my head from my body and my upper part of my body from the lower part at the waist, and my back. Hitting the final landing place without any vision and anything to make the landing softer, threw me into a daze thinking my back was broken. Some folks who knew me rushed to aid me, while I was hitting my head many times on the top of the under path of the stage. Sister Carol who was a great comforter brought one of her personal chairs for me to sit on and try to regain my composer”.
– Balford Henry
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