Auburn Gymnast Samantha Cerio Breaks Both Legs In Gruesome Fall At NCAA Regionals

A senior gymnast from Auburn University met an unexpected end to her NCAA run after a gruesome fall at an NCAA gymnastics event. Samantha Cerio had to be stretchered off after breaking both her legs.

During the NCAA Regional Semifinal at Baton Rouge, Cerio was making her first pass attempting a handspring double front with a blind landing for her floor routine when she awkwardly landed on the mat.

Nola.com reports that the senior gymnast dislocated both her knees and broke both legs. She was reportedly screaming in agony on the floor following the hard fall.

Paramedics placed air casts on both the young athlete’s legs before carrying her off the floor to a standing ovation from the arena.

According to Auburn coach Jeff Graba who has been coaching gymnastics since the 80s, he has never seen an injury quite like the university standout’s.

“It was pretty tough to watch,” Graba told Nola.com. “She’s a trooper. The last thing she said was, ‘Go help the girls.’ The girls rallied around her. They’re doing this for her right now.”

On Sunday, Cerio shared on her Twitter account that she is retiring as a gymnast after 18 years. “I am hanging up my grips and leaving the chalk behind.”

Cerio was a SEC co-scholar athlete of the year, an All-SEC awardee in 2017 and 2018 and was part of the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2016.

The Auburn Tigers noted last week that the Regionals could be her final meet as she readies for graduation in May, with a job as a Structural Design Analysis Engineer waiting for her at Boeing after.

Following the heartbreaking incident, the Auburn Tigers rallied for Cerio, finishing the Friday competition with an overall score of 197.075 — the highest regional score in program history. However, the team fell short in the finals, finishing in fourth.