Family of Ezra Blount, 9, who was trampled at Astroworld are praying for miracle after being told he may NOT survive
THE family of a nine-year-old boy fighting for his life in hospital after being trampled during Travis Scott’s ill-fated Astroworld concert says they’re praying for a miracle after being told he may not survive, The Sun has learned.
Little Ezra Blount suffered critical injuries at the doomed concert in Houston, Texas on Friday night after he fell off of his dad’s shoulders when the crowd of around 50,000 people suddenly surged towards the stage.
Ezra fell after his father passed out from the pressure of the surge. The young boy was then trampled on the ground by panicked fans during the chaos, his family has said.
“He’s still in a critical condition in an induced coma, we are praying and waiting,” said Ezra’s aunt Taylor Gabrielle Blount.
She added he’s suffering from increasingly worsening brain swelling and his organs are also damaged.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Taylor said she hasn’t seen her nephew as only his parents are allowed at the moment – but doctors “hope the swelling goes down so he can start to live.”
“We were told he wasn’t expected to live, but it’s been three days so we’re praying he pulls through. He’s a fighter,” she added.
Read our Travis Scott Astroworld Festival live blog for the very latest news and updates…
Taylor recounted the horror her brother Treston went through after waking up only to find his son had vanished while he was unconscious.
“My brother passed out in the crowd after the crowd began to push them,” Taylor recounted.
“He had Ezra on his shoulders. When my brother woke up, he couldn’t find him.”
Authorities rushed him to the hospital without a name because little Ezra was found without his father, making the harrowing experience all the more difficult.
“At first he was checked into the hospital as a John Doe, so we had to find him,” Taylor said.
“I’m guessing because the paramedics had already taken him away. We think he fell into the crowd and was trampled.”
“My brother is so worried about Ezra, but he’s ok himself. His mother Tamra is in a very fragile state right now, she can’t speak yet.”
FATHER AND SON FANS OF SCOTT
Taylor recalled how her nephew came to be a fan of Scott, which is why he and his father attended the concert.
“Ezra is phenomenal, he’s a fan of Fornite [the video game] which is how he was introduced to Travis Scott, and his father Treston is a fan, they loved him.”
“They went together, it was meant to be a learning experience to introduce him to live music, but it turned into something else.”
“Ezra loves to sing, both him and his father love performing,” Taylor said.
“It’s really disappointing. Travis being from Houston, he has a key to the city and something like this went on.
“They needed to take more precautions, there needed to be more security, more exits, a lot of people struggled to get out.
“It should have been stopped after the first death.”
SCOTT “HASN’T LEARNED HIS LESSON”
When asked about Scott encouraging the crowd to be wild, Taylor referenced previous occasions where similar events occurred and even brought two separate charges against the musician.
“You would have hoped he’d have learned his lesson, but it seems he hasn’t,” Taylor told The Sun.
“Ezra is about to turn 10 on December 13,” she added. “He’s a very funny, outgoing little boy. He can talk to anybody, he’s an innocent child, it’s shocking this has happened to him.”
Ezra was one of 50,000 people crammed into pens at Astroworld over the weekend, where the death toll following Scott’s concert remains at eight, with hundreds more injured.
Ezra’s grandfather Bernon Blount also told of his shock at an apparent lack of safety preparedness before the concert.
“I guess my biggest thing is, how could this happen in the city of Houston? You know, when we go to concerts and different events, we expect safety and security. And all the videos I’ve seen, I didn’t see any security. I saw very little security,” he told ABC 13 Houston, later adding that police or “someone should have stopped it.”
“I just think there should be some accountability, cause for my grandson to end up the way he did, something terrible happened.
“He’s a small, innocent child, he didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve it at all,” Ezra’s grandfather said.
“He’s just coming into town to see one of his favorite artists, and to be trampled like that, and really left in the hospital with no one knowing where he was, that’s heartbreaking,” he continued.
“As the citizens of Houston, we don’t deserve it, and my grandson certainly didn’t deserve it.”
FAMILY ATTORNEY
The family has retained lawyer Ben Crump to represent them.
Crump told The Sun on Monday: “The suffering that this family is going through is immeasurable.
“This little boy had his whole life ahead of him – a life that is currently hanging in the balance because of the reckless mismanagement that ensued at the Astroworld Festival.
“We ask everyone to send up the most powerful prayers they can as this family tries to grapple with the undoable damage that has been done to their son.”
ILL-FATED EVENT
Astroworld is an annual event held by Scott in his hometown of Houston.
On Friday, the first day of the third annual show, the crowd surged towards the stage while Scott was performing, resulting in a large panic.
The disaster unfolded around 9:15pm local time when the crowd rushed towards the stage and people “began to fall out, become unconscious and it created additional panic,” Houston Police Chief Lt. Larry Satterwhite said on Saturday.
Satterwhite, who had been working near the stage, said medics onsite were so overwhelmed they had to ask people in the crowd to administer CPR to other attendees in peril.
Videos captured from the scene showed a cameraman ignoring attendees who were begging him to stop the show because people were dying; multiple others showed fans dancing atop ambulances as they attempted to reach unconscious people in the crowd.
In total eight people died. They were all aged between 14 and 27.
At least 23 of the hundreds injured were hospitalized, five of whom were under 18. Eleven of those taken to hospital suffered cardiac arrest, officials said.
Scott broke his silence over the tragedy on Saturday afternoon, saying he was “absolutely devastated” by what had transpired the night previous.
“My fans really mean the world to me and I always wanna leave them with a positive experience and anytime I can make out anything that’s going on, I stop the show and help them get the help they need, you know?” he said.
The rapper, whose real name is Jacques Bermon Webster II, added that he is working with the proper authorities and is asking fans from the event to do the same.
“If you have any information, please just contact your local authorities. Everyone continue to just keep your prayers.”
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Scott canceled a planned appearance at the Las Vegas festival Day N Vegas this weekend.
He has also offered to pay for the funerals of all of the victims and will be partnering with online therapy provider BetterHelp to supply one month of free one-on-one therapy for festival attendees.
“Travis remains in active conversations with the city of Houston, law enforcement and local first responders to respectfully and appropriately connect with the individuals and families of those involved,” Scott’s spokesperson said in a statement.
“These are the first of many steps Travis plans on taking as a part of his personal vow to assist those affected throughout their grieving and recovery process.
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