TwitchCon went off with several notable hitches over the weekend of Oct. 7.
The convention, which debuted with its inaugural event in 2015, returned after a two-year hiatus in July 2022. The first event was held in Amsterdam, and a state-side event recently concluded after a three-day run between Oct. 7 and 9. It experienced a number of embarrassing issues, but one quickly beat its peers out as the most jaw-dropping thing to happen at the convention. A prominent Twitch and OnlyFans creator named Adriana Chechik made an appearance on day three, leaping from an elevated platform into a pit of foam cubes. Soon, headlines about the injury she suffered were flooding the web.
What happened to Adriana Chechik at TwitchCon 2022?
Chechik’s injury became an instant talking point online, after footage of the incident landed on the web and started making the rounds. A clip of Chechik’s jump into a pit of seemingly soft and malleable foam went instantly viral after it was uploaded to Twitter, and was soon followed by news that the streamer was seriously injured.
The pit in question was part of Lenovo’s booth, and was reportedly arranged with far too little depth. The typical foam pit is at least six inches deep, with The American Gym noting that many are up to eight inches deep. All that space is filled with a multitude of foam cubes, which are intended to catch and cradle those jumping into their midst.
The pit at TwitchCon was reportedly as shallow as two feet in some places, with the majority of the pit clocking in at around three feet deep. This is far too little to offer the necessary protection, a fact that was well proven when a number of participants injured themselves when trying to jump in.
None of the injuries sustained—which include a dislocated knee, several back injuries, and one potentially broken ankle—quite match up to Chechik’s, however. The 30-year-old streamer checked in with her fans following the incident and informed them that she’d broken her back in two places. She announced the injury via Twitter, where she informed her followers that she’d need surgery to have a “meter rod” put into her back “for support.”
The pit in question was shut down on several occasions during TwitchCon, but was never permanently closed. Twitch has yet to directly address the injuries sustained at its convention, but a Lenovo representative responded to a request for comment from IGN.
“We are aware of the incidents of TwitchCon visitors who sustained injuries in the gladiator game soft foam pit at the Lenovo booth,” the statement reads. “Safety remains our top priority and we are working with event organizers to look into the incidents.”
There’s no news yet on how Chechik, or any of the other injured attendees, plan to address their injuries. Everyone who participated in the pit was required to sign a waiver, but that doesn’t necessarily free TwitchCon and Lenovo from responsibility. If all else fails, the optics of contributing to the injury of so many—and then ignoring any responsibility—would seriously damage the optics of both businesses.