Paul Heaton says Sheffield Arena should "hang their heads in shame" after "pitiful" medical incident response
“Let's hope their recovery is speedier than the pitiful reaction of the venue's medical and security staff”
The headline act of a Sheffield Arena show has blasted the venue’s “pitiful reaction” to two separate medical incidents in the crowd.
Paul Heaton turned to social media to raise his concerns after the incidents during his performance in the Steel City on Friday, November 6.
“I was ABSOLUTELY dumbfounded by the medical response tonight,” the singer wrote on X - formerly Twitter - after the show.
“The whole of the venue and their organisation should hang their heads in shame.
“Thankfully no-one was properly hurt but the security and medical reaction did the whole of the audience a complete injustice.”
Paul, who was the main lyricist of the Housemartins before forming his own group the Beautiful South, alleged that it took staff 12 minutes to bring out a defibrillator during one incident.
His performance was paused temporarily during both incidents to allow teams to respond.
When returning to the stage after one incident, he told the audience “hopefully the person makes a speedy recovery.”
He echoed this sentiment in another social media post after the show, writing: “Let's hope their recovery is speedier than the pitiful reaction of the venue's medical and security staff.”
Sheffield Arena have been approached for comment.