Latest Victim of Sugarland Stage Collapse Will Donate Organs Before She Dies

A 24-year old cheerleading coach who was critically injured in the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair remained on life support Monday morning, but will be allowed to die after her organs are harvested.

Meagan Toothman, 24, was still being kept alive on Monday morning but her family planned to remove her from life support after surgery to remove critical organs that could save other lives. The Cincinatti, Ohio, resident was in the second row of the VIP section of the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand when the stage collapsed and a light fixture fell on her prior to a scheduled performance by the country duo Sugarland. She has been in a coma since being admitted to the hospital last weekend.

Late last night it became apparent that our Meagan was no longer with us, her family said in a Web-based statement on Monday. The decision was made to allow her to be at peace. This afternoon she is scheduled for a surgery that will provide gifts of sight, health, and life to dozens who are in need.

Toothman was attending the concert with Jaymie Polet, who she had formerly coached on the Cincinnati's Turpin High School squad, and Jaymie's mother mother Jill. Both her companions suffered broken bones but are expected to fully recover.

The outpouring of love and hope was more than we could possibly have expected and was an inspiration to all of us to keep her fighting, the Toothman family's statement continued. We hope that she will continue to touch more lives in the same way through her passing.

The stage collapse took place on Sat., August 13, at approximately 8:45 p.m., just prior to a scheduled Sugarland performance. While the National Weather Service had issued multiple severe weather warnings in the hours leading up to the tragedy, the stage collapse is believed to have been caused by a dramatic but isolated gust of wind that occured before the severe thunderstorm was expected to arrive.