News

Fan hit by foul ball recounts ordeal

Owen Boss

07/12/2015

July 12--Stephanie Wapenski, a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan from Connecticut, was sitting on the third-base side of Fenway Park with her fiance, Matt Fraenza, during Friday night's game against the New York Yankees when she was seriously injured by a foul ball. Wapenski, now recovering at home with more than 35 stitches, told the Herald's Owen Boss she is relieved her injuries weren't more severe and thankful for the fans and EMTs who rushed to her aid.

"I saw the ball. I could kind of see it -- it was just over the batter's head and I could see it through the fans on the other side and I was trying to process whether the ball was coming toward me or going away from me but I didn't have time to complete the thought before it connected, 'bam-bam' and then it was just a whole lot of shock. I was saying, 'Wow, that ball somehow found me in the crowd' -- it all happened very, very fast. "

Did the recent incident involving a woman hit in the face by a broken bat go through your mind as you took your seats?

"I heard her story. I felt awful about it when it happened -- and in fact in a very 'shoot myself in the foot' kind of moment, when we sat down in our seats, I looked at where we were and decided this spot wasn't right for a foul ball. I just couldn't see how it could have come off the bat this way."

I heard your fiance, a lifelong Yankees fan, recently proposed to you at Fenway, is that true?

"Yes! I always say to myself: 'Here I am with a Yankees fan.' We always say it makes for an interesting relationship."

Do you think Fenway Park should consider expanding the protective netting?

"They need to look at the numbers of people hit. I don't know what the numbers are but if it is happening more frequently than I realize, then maybe they should move the nets, but I just don't know enough about it."

Did you get the ball that hit you?

"No! Talk about the one time you deserve to get the ball afterward. I've always said, in all my times at Fenway, whoever takes the initial brunt almost never gets the ball -- it's always the next person. One person is left with a broken hand and another is waving the ball in the air. It's funny -- I want to know who took the ball and I wonder if they are out there saying, 'Some woman got hit and I got the ball.' "

What did you think of the response from the fans and the EMTs who helped?

They were amazing. Two guys took the shirts off their backs to help me. Someone else managed to get ice and bring it down to me. So, by the time Fenway staff arrived we had the bleeding contained.

The turnaround on getting me into an ambulance and to the hospital was really amazing ... The Red Sox sent flowers, it's really been overwhelming and I'm really touched. Everybody stepped up for me in a big way."