Italian actor Raphael Schumacher has been declared clinically dead by his doctors after an on-stage suicide scene went terribly wrong. The 27-year-old actor has been in a coma since the Sunday, Jan. 31 performance when he accidently hung himself, according to the New York Daily News. He underwent a six-hour procedure on Thursday to establish brain activity, but his condition did not improve.
"The family and the prosecutor's office have both authorized that his organs be donated," Pisa's Cisanello Hospital said in a statement.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident, which took place during an experimental performance of the interactive production called "Mirages" at Pisa's Teatro Lux, CNN reported. They are trying to figure out if proper safety procedures were in place, and four people are under investigation for manslaughter in his death.
He was performing a scene in the courtyard of Pisa's Teatro Lux when a member of the small audience noticed that the rope around his neck was way too tight. Even though his head was covered, the audience member saw that he was trembling and quickly realizes something was wrong, so she ran up to loosen the noose and lower him to the ground with the help of another spectator. He was taken to the hospital shortly after.
Schumacher had actually changed the play's script and added this scene in himself at the last minute, according to Italian newspaper Il Giorno. "The original monologue included a fake gunshot," the theater company said. "But he eventually decided for the hanging- without telling us."
