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Grammy award winning DJ Paul van Dyk has won £9.6m damages three years after he fell through a hole in the stage at a Dutch music festival.
The German-born dance legend broke his back and suffered shocking brain injuries after plummeting 33ft while performing at ‘A State Of Trance’ in Utrecht in February 2016.
The 47-year-old, real name is Matthias Paul, initially fell into a coma and remained under doctors’ supervision at Utrecht Medical Center for weeks after his horror fall.
Shocking footage shows the world-famous record producer stride from his DJ booth towards the front of the stage before disappearing from view in front of shocked fans.
For a while the club superstar was confined to a wheelchair while he learned to walk again.
In May 2016, he wrote on Facebook : “Although there is a long way ahead for me to completely recover, I am positive, optimistic and doing absolutely everything I can to get back to my passion and share with you my love for music.”
The doctor already state that if I would be able to do 50 per cent of what I used to, it would be considered a huge success, he said
He finished the letter by hinting at a comeback: “In mid-June, I’m returning to do what I love doing the most and am looking forward to seeing you all again!”
In a later interview he said: ““The diagnostics from the doctor already state that if I would be able to do 50 per cent of what I used to, it would be considered a huge success.”
The DJ eventually took ‘A State Of Trance’ organisers ALDA Events BV to arbitration and was awarded the massive damages last week.
The £9.6m includes £1.53m for future medical expenses and £920,000 for lost profits in the years immediately after the incident.
He was also awarded £1.89m for losses in the next decade and an additional £4.2m for “other damages”.
After a long period of recovery, van Dyk went on to release the album ‘From Then On’ in October 2017 and then featured shortly on the cover of DJ Mag, in which he spoke about moving on from his life-changing accident.
Van Dyk is one of the most famous and successful DJs in the world, and is one of the few to be named World’s Number One DJ twice – in 2005 and 2006.
The veteran electronic music artist and producer is best known for such songs as ‘Another Way,’ ‘Talking in Grey’ and ‘Face to Face.’
