Well-known New York Nets fan Jeffrey Gamblero died on Sunday as a result of injuries he sustained from a two-story fall.
Gamblero, whose birth name is Jeffrey Vanchiro, was 38. According to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com, he sustained severe brain damage and a fractured spinal cord after he jumped out of a second-story window at his father’s house in Queens on Saturday night.
Gamblero’s fiancee Kristi Evans said Sunday that she believed Jeffrey’s decision to jump out of a window had something to do with the incident he was involved in at a Nets-Knicks game earlier this month. If you remember, Gamblero was carried out of Madison Square Garden after he allegedly took off his prosthetic leg and caused a scene.
“After that, he was a completely different person,” Evans explained. “He was paranoid. He was erratic. He was frightened. He was horrified. He was a bit delusional. And he was having a lot of trouble sleeping. He couldn’t sleep at all. When he would sleep or try to sleep, it would only take about 10 to 15 minutes before he would wake up screaming, covered in sweat.”
Gamblero attended the Nets game on Friday night and was shown on the video board dancing. Later that night, he went to the nightclub where Evans works. She said something didn’t seem right. He jumped out of the window the following night.
“He’s never, ever exhibited any suicidal tendencies,” Evans said. “He jumped out of the bed, ran down the hallway … and then threw himself out of a window headfirst and landed on his head.”
Evans said Gamblero was “bawling hysterically” after the Dec. 2 incident at the Garden. She said MSG security had asked him to quiet down but that Gamblero was not cursing or offending anyone around him. When he politely refused, security asked him to leave. He then took off his leg as a form of peaceful protest. That’s when security picked him up and carried him out. Evans said Gamblero was “traumatized.”
“He didn’t have his leg, either,” she said. “Then [Nets executive] Irina [Pavlova] came over and consoled him there, and then he went to the hospital.”
Evans shared the following tweet late Sunday:
We lost a brilliant, unique, incredible man today. Please tell me your stories about Jeffrey Gamblero so I can share them with the world.
— Kristi Evans (@TwittsMcGee) December 15, 2014
Photo: Twitter/Jeffrey Gamblero
