'Saved my life' — Leeds United fan who suffered parade fall issues update and thanks from hospital bed — YEP 28/5/25

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By Joe Donnohue

Leeds United fan Ed O'Brien says he is doing 'very well' after suffering a fall whilst celebrating the club's Championship title parade.

O'Brien fell from a tree in Leeds city centre on Monday, May 5 as United fans gathered en masse to celebrate the team's Championship title. He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with life-threatening injuries, spending a number of days in a coma before waking a week after the accident.

Following the incident, Ed's mum Stacey Barker said in a statement to the YEP: "Last Monday our son, Edward, suffered serious life threatening injuries as a result of a fall in Millennium Square during the Leeds United winners parade. That evening we were given the worst news a parent could ever hear, the news that there was a possibility that we’d never take our son home.

"Since then, Edward’s dad and I have spent every day at his bedside as the amazing team at the LGI have worked what I can only describe as ‘a miracle’, and yesterday the development we have hoped and prayed for, for six long and agonising days materialised and he woke for the first time. It is clear he has a long way to go just now but, for the first time since the initial prognosis was delivered, we feel more than confident that Edward stands a fantastic chance of a very good recovery. It is more than any of us ever dared to hope only eight days ago. The relief we feel is simply indescribable, we couldn’t be any happier right now."

Ed has spent nearly a month in hospital as he continues his recovery and has released a statement of his own, thanking Leeds supporters and those further afield for their well-wishes and words of encouragement.

"As many of you will know, I am indeed the lad who fell from the tree at the parade," Ed wrote on social media on Wednesday, May 28. "Just want to thank everyone who has wished me well, I truly am overwhelmed. As for an update, I still have a way to go but I'm doing very well, everything is on the right path. We are Leeds!

"This goes to fellow Leeds fans as well as the wider football world - I have read so many lovely things from everywhere. A few other comments as well - they're fair enough, I can promise I won't be climbing any trees anytime soon. I was drunk and happy, made a daft decision!

"You don't get many characters these days but I also want to say - LGI, St Jimmy's [St James] hospitals - the staff have been superb. They have saved my life and I'll never stop being grateful. Boy do they put in some hard work."

Fundraising effort

A fundraising campaign was started in the aftermath of the accident by one of Ed's friends Harvey Rushton. An initial target of £750, to assist with his parents' travel costs and lost earnings, was set but surpassed within days as the total reached £15,000 - a sum Stacey says the family is extremely grateful for, in addition to all those who wished her son well with messages on social media and elsewhere.

A season ticket holder at Elland Road, Ed acknowledges there is a long way to go in his recovery but says he 'won't miss the Premier League for the world.'

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