‘It wasn’t to get attention’: Mariners fan hit by foul ball responds to online attacks

In the midst of the Seattle Mariners’ Friday night game against the San Diego Padres, an M’s fan, Jamie Golla, was struck in the head by a sharp line-drive hit by Padres third baseman Sung-mun Song in the fifth inning.

Golla, 33, received a strong amount of criticism after a video of the incident was uploaded online. Golla broke down the events preceding her injury and responded to the backlash on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“My friend invited us to watch the game with her. We were sitting behind the visitors’ dugout, having fun, enjoying the game,” Golla said. “During the fifth inning, Sung was at bat, he hit the ball, it went over the net, my eyes were following the ball, and I assumed that someone had caught it up in the club level or upper deck. At that time, my friend was recording a video, and the next thing you know, the ball hit me on the front of my head.”

 

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Line drive foul ball turns a fun night into a freak accident

After the freak accident, commenters flooded her friend’s Instagram video — many accusing Golla of planning to sue the Mariners. Though comments have been turned off, she shut the rumors down.

“It wasn’t to get attention. People are saying, ‘Oh, you’re just doing this to make money to get famous.’ No, it was never that; everyone’s saying that I did it on purpose to make money and file a lawsuit. That is not the case,” Golla said. “That was never my intention. It never crossed my mind, and I felt like, because a lot of people have been saying that, I went to the game with my daughter this past Sunday, and I talked to guest services at T-Mobile Park, and I felt like I needed to apologize. Everyone’s just making it such a bigger deal than it is.”

Golla further explained her mindset for dealing with negative publicity following the incident, and why she believes people should only speak up if they have something positive to share.

“There have been a lot of people who have reached out, wished me a speedy recovery, but of course, with social media, there comes all the backlash and negative comments,” Golla said. “I get it, social media nowadays, everyone feels like they have a need to give their two cents. I was taught that if you don’t have anything to say, if it’s not good, just don’t say it. There’s no point in name-calling, body shaming, or bringing politics into it. There’s someone who said, ‘This is a man’s sport, why are you watching it? You need to listen to the man, pay attention,’ you know, all of that.”

A soft tissue bruise — and a follow-up with her doctor this week

While taking a foul ball to her head was both physically and mentally traumatic, Golla provided an update on her current health status and how she will deal with her injury moving forward.

“I went to Harborview, they weren’t able to fully examine me because I had alcohol in my system at that time,” Golla said. “They advised me to get a CT scan, which I declined for insurance purposes, but on my discharge paperwork, it did say I had a soft tissue bruise or contusion. I have been monitoring my symptoms, and it’s been OK so far, minor headaches here and there, but I will be following up with my doctor this week.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.