Getting back in the game. MLB sideline reporter Kelsey Wingert is recovering from being struck in the head by a 95 mph line drive, with a little help from some of her Colorado Rockies colleagues.
“My parents live in Texas. My fiancé and I have a house in Georgia so when it happened in Denver, I was ‘alone.’ But [AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain] general manager [David Woodman], his wife [Paula Woodman] and my producer [Alison Vigil] stayed with me the whole night,” the sports commentator, 29, told Us Weekly exclusively on Wednesday, May 25, about the immediate aftermath of her injury. “Then my GM and his wife took care of me at their house for a few days until I was cleared to fly. It was only the second time I had met his wife!”
The pair held Wingert’s hand through the entire experience — sometimes literally, including when she had “a panic attack in the hospital over the thought of needles.”
She continued: “[There was] no judgment. It meant so much.”
The official Colorado Rockies correspondent was sitting by the first base camera during the team’s May 16 game against the San Francisco Giants. In the ninth inning, Rockies pitcher Daniel Bard threw to Giants’ Austin Slater, who hit a foul ball that went flying into the stands toward Wingert.
“Hey guys, I’m hanging in there. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to texts yet. I took a 95 MPH line drive straight into my forehead,” the journalist wrote via her Instagram Story two days later. “I received internal and external stitches because of how deep the wound is. They are hoping the scar won’t be too bad for [my upcoming] wedding [to fiancé Casey Linch]! I’ve been sleeping at the Woodman’s [sic] who have quickly become family. I can’t say enough about how the network and organization has treated me. I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
The incident occurred just 19 days before Wingert’s June 6 wedding and shortly after she moved from Georgia — where she recently bought a house with Linch — to Colorado. “Prior to this, I was starting a new job cross-country commuting, we had just bought a house in Atlanta and I was planning a wedding, so I didn’t have a second to breathe,” she told Us, adding that it took some time for her to process the entire experience.
“Today was the first day I’ve been alone since it all happened, so it was very emotional with a lot of processing of everything I’ve gone through,” she said on Wednesday, adding that it was “really the first day in months I’ve had to reflect.”
Despite the roller coaster of emotions that Wingert has been experiencing since getting hurt, the journalist is trying to focus on the positives in her life. “It’s just a lot to accept, but I also am so grateful because I know it could have been so much worse,” she explained. “I’m very grateful for my faith because it’s been able to give me a better perspective than if I didn’t have it to lean and rely on.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about how Wingert’s recovery and her upcoming wedding plans:
"I’ve been recovering by just resting a lot," Wingert — who got her stitches removed on May 23 — told Us, adding that she was "probably sleeping about 18 hours a day" in the aftermath of her injury. "I worked my way up into just taking longer naps through the day," she continued. "Today is the first day I’ve been awake all day long! I, unfortunately, am not allowed to work out, which is the last thing a bride wants to hear weeks before her wedding!" Courtesy of Kelsey Wingert
The Louisiana State University grad was injured nearly three weeks before her wedding day and she's been working on accepting that her new scar will be present in photos from the big day. "[The] aftermath has been difficult mentally as you can imagine for someone getting married in 11 days and for someone who works in TV," Wingert said. "It’s difficult for me to accept having a scar on my forehead, but I know it looks the best it possibly could and this is the worst it’ll look right now! So [I'm] trying to stay positive and grateful that I didn’t have a brain injury/internal bleeding." Courtesy of Kelsey Wingert
Even after enduring such a traumatic incident, Wingert is hoping to get back to the job she loves as soon as possible. "I’ll return to work after the wedding," she said, adding, "I still have follow-up appointments with the doctor I’m seeing in Georgia for the aftercare. I’m not supposed to be in the sun [or] put makeup on it just yet." David Zalubowski/AP/Shutterstock
When she does return to the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, it will be some time before Wingert reports from the sidelines again. "I will work on an 'exposure plan' as I did the last time this happened in 2019 just to get used to the sound of the ball on the bat," the former Atlanta Braves reporter explained. "I do it while the team is taking batting practice and start in the upper decks of the stadium with my back to field, [so] I get used to noise and not flinching. Then I’ll move to the next section down with back to the field and work my way down to field level." Chris Szagola/AP/Shutterstock
Though she feels grateful to have not been seriously injured and that the people in her life have gone above and beyond to look after her, Wingert is still struggling with the emotional impact of the incident. "I think it would be difficult for any bride to accept this happening 19 days before her wedding ... you know? That’s probably what I’ve struggled with the most mentally, what I’ll be left with [and] what it will look like long term," she revealed. "Especially being on camera professionally. It’s just a lot to accept." She continued: "But I also am so grateful because I know it could have been so much worse." With reporting by Diana Cooper Courtesy of Kelsey Wingert/Instagram
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