Onlookers horrified as American tourist is impaled by Rome’s Colosseum fence

A tourist horrified onlookers when his attempt to scale a Roman Colosseum fence ended with him being impaled.

The 47-year-old man, reportedly an American living in Taiwan, was impaled in the spine while trying to climb the metal fence at the historical attraction. Local reports believe he attempted the dangerous stunt to get a better view of the Colosseum.

Onlookers screamed in horror and called out for help while the impaled man lost consciousness. Law enforcement and paramedics managed to remove him from the fence in an operation that took about 20 minutes to complete. He was rushed to the hospital, where it would take over 80 stitches to close the wound on his back. He is still listed as being in severe condition, according to a local outlet.

The man was on vacation in Rome with family and had only been in the city for about two days before the shocking incident.

X users had a lot to say:

Darwinism is ubiquitous

— Bernardo | Defi CEO (@Bernardo_Defi) May 5, 2025

Natural selection at work..

— Chris Millet (@Cmillet77) May 4, 2025

Nice! Authentic coliseum injury pic.twitter.com/h3oCHecOUB

— Koala (@kohAHluh) May 4, 2025

Only in a world obsessed with likes over logic. Maybe next time, just buy the postcard or use ai to fake it ‍♂️

— Mr Familiar. (@RightJackDaniel) May 5, 2025

Rome Colliseum Tour – premium package: full gladiatore experienza, including actual sword spearing by actual Roman gladiator

— LogGPT (@loggyrhythm) May 4, 2025

Purchasing a ticket to go inside would have been a lot less expensive and certainly a lot less painful.

— Lori Seabolt (@Fussygal1) May 5, 2025

Yeah, no kidding. Guess some tourists need a history lesson along with their souvenir selfies….

— HIV (@HIVFOREVER) May 5, 2025

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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