Following his near fatal fall during a performance at Armin van Buuren’s A State Of Trance festival in Utrecht on February 27, 2016, trance legend Paul van Dyk has been awarded over $12.5 million dollars after winning his lawsuit against the event organizers, ALDA Events.
The horrific fall that the German DJ/producer suffered resulted in a severe spinal injury and damages to his brain that required a three-month recovery process. Van Dyk has no recollection of the accident where he fell through an unmarked hole on the stage that was covered only by a cloth. Following the long road of recovery, van Dyk spoke about the psychological and physical trauma that he endured after the accident.
“I don’t remember it at all and I think the brain does that to protect itself. I know there is video out there of me falling but I can’t look at it. It wouldn’t be good for me.”
Almost three years after van Dyk issued the lawsuit against the event organizers and started the legal process, the courts ordered ALDA to pay $12,588,643.45 for medical bills as well as past and future lost profits. Van Dyk will be given $2 million towards medical expenses, $1.2 million for profits lost during his recovery in 2016/2017 and $2.475 million for losses in the next 10 years. The courts determined that ALDA failed to issue warnings to van Dyk regarding the structural integrity of the stage and had not designed a safe stage for performers.
