Actor Raphael Schumacher declared brain dead.
Italian actor Raphael Schumacher has been declared clinically dead after he was strangled in a stage hanging scene that went horribly wrong.
The 27-year-old’s family authorized the harvesting of his organs, and the doctors have started the procedure, according to CNN.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident and say they are trying to establish whether proper safety procedures were in place.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, four people are under investigation for manslaughter in the actor’s death.
Schumacher was performing in an experimental theater production in the courtyard of Pisa’s Teatro Lux when a member of the audienced noticed that the rope around his neck was too tight.
The actor’s head was covered at the time, but the spectator, saw him trembling and realized something was wrong. She ran to him, loosened the noose, and with the help of a spectator, lowered him to the ground. He was taken to the hospital shortly thereafter.
Schumacher changed the play’s script at the last minute,the directors of the theater company told Italian newspaper Il Giorno: “The original monologue included a fake gunshot but he eventually decided for the hanging — without telling us.”
