In January, Burnaby resident Martin Slatten received a devastating diagnosis.
The 36-year-old was told he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that has now spread to his liver, pancreas, abdominal wall and spine.
“It’s a struggle day to day,” he said. “And some days I’m in a lot more pain than others. But I’m still here.”
On Tuesday night, Slatten went with his mother to see the Cirque du Soleil show KOOZA in downtown Vancouver.
“I was originally going to go with my wife, who’s also disabled, but I ended up going with my mom,” he said.
“About halfway through the show, one of the performers jumps into my lap and sat down for far too long.”
Slatten said he was not expecting the performer to do that and he was worried about what might happen.
“It was scary because if they slipped or anything, they could have fallen into my stomach area. I could have ended up in the hospital. My legs are already very weak.”
Slatten said he uses a cane, which he had in his hands in front of him so he is confused as to why a performer would pick him.
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“It did hurt,” he said. “And while there was no significant damage, I did have to get up out of my seat and walk around a while to make sure that there was no real damage done.”
Slatten said his wife did contact Cirque du Soleil before the performance to make them aware of his diagnosis and they originally bought seats for the disability section.
However, when his wife didn’t attend and they didn’t need a wheelchair space, they were offered to move to different seats closer to the front.
Slatten said it is where the performers would be walking by but they didn’t know the level of interaction that could take place. He said if he had known, he wouldn’t have sat there.
Cirque du Soleil did not return Global News’ request for comment on the issue but on its website, it states that notwithstanding all security measures in place on the site, injury may occur during the show.
Anyone buying tickets must accept the terms of the agreement to assume all risk, liability and responsibility for any and all damages of any nature, including bodily harm and loss of property.
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However, Slatten said he wanted to speak out about his experience because some disabilities are invisible and one can never know what someone else is going through.
“Because of my age, I might not look like I’m dealing with much of anything, but it’s quite serious,” he said. “I might not look like I could get easily hurt, but I can be easily hurt. My 79-year-old mom is currently stronger than I am.”
He said everyone should be able to go to a show and enjoy themselves.
The family also reached out to Cirque du Soleil but has not heard back.
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