By . Associated  Press Reporter . One of eight circus acrobats who plummeted about 20 feet to the ground during a hair-hanging stunt says she's thankful she's alive and wants to return to the ring. 'I'm hoping to join back up with the tour and show the world that I'm OK, and I'm hoping some of the other girls will do the same,' Samantha Pitard told The Associated Press yesterday after she was released from a hospital. Pitard and seven other acrobats were in an act described as a 'human chandelier', in which they were hanging from an apparatus by their hair. They were injured during a Sunday performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus when a clip at the top of the chandelier-like apparatus snapped, dropping them to the ground 20 or more feet below. The other women are still hospitalized. Scroll down for video . Grateful: Samantha Pitard (pictured left and right) has revealed she is the only member of the injured troupe who can walk on her own following the circus accident . Hurt: Samantha Pitard (pictured) and seven other acrobats were injured during a Sunday performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus . Lucky to be alive: Samantha Ellen Pitard (bottom center) has been released from hospital after she and seven other acrobats of plummeted about 20-feet to the ground during a hair-hanging stunt on Sunday . Pitard, 23, a native of Champaign, Illinois, said she is the only one of the troupe who can walk on her own. The others need assistance or have not tried to walk because they are still undergoing operations. But she said the others are expected to fully recover and everyone is in good spirits. 'Every single one of us in the troupe, every single circus performer, knows that they are risking their lives every time they go out there to perform or practice,' she said. 'We hope it doesn't happen, but we know that we are taking that risk, and we love it enough to take that risk every day to make people happy.' Pitard said it was a normal day and normal performance on Sunday. The curtain dropped to reveal the eight women suspended in the air, but it went wrong as soon as they did their third leg position. 'We heard a huge crack, huge noise, and then we were just plummeting to the ground,' she said. 'It was very fast. I remember everything.' Gripping: Smart phone footage captured by an audience member shows a curtain fall to reveal a platform from which acrobats were suspended by their hair . Shocking: Gasps of horror can be heard from the audience when the circus platform suddenly plummets . The . 350-pound chandelier fell on top of them. She said the rescue crews got . to them quickly to free them from the apparatus, then give them medical . attention. 'I . was sitting up, and once I caught my breath, I was looking at all the . girls,' she said. 'I wanted to know that everybody was OK. I saw my . troupe leader (Viktoriya Medeiros), she was right next to me, and I . heard her say that she couldn't feel her legs.' The paramedics instructed her to lie down. Pitard . described her injuries, including fractures on her spine, a cut on her . head that required three stitches and a badly bitten tongue, as minor. Massive fall: Eight acrobats performing the 'human chandelier' were injured in the fall at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in Providence, Rhode Island on Sunday . Major injuries: An injured female performer is lifted onto a stretcher after a platform collapsed during an aerial hair-hanging stunt at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Sunday . Local . investigators have completed an initial probe into the circus accident . and are turning over a broken clip and other material to federal . workplace safety investigators. The . carabiner clip was one of several pieces at the top of a . chandelier-like apparatus that was suspending the acrobats during Sunday . morning's performance before 3,900 people, many of them children. Fire . investigator Paul Doughty said investigators have narrowed down the cause of the broken clip to . two possibilities: a manufacturing defect or improper use. The latter could have to do with how it was installed in the rigging, he said. 'Human chandelier': The eight female acrobats were attempting this aerial hair-hanging stunt when it went horribly wrong at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Sunday . The . circus inspected all of its equipment on Monday night when it loaded up . in Providence and planned another inspection when it unloaded in . Hartford, Connecticut, said Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld . Entertainment, Ringling's parent company. The . circus is replacing each carabiner in the show before the next . performance, on Thursday in Hartford, he said. The hair act won't be . performed there, the company said. The . equipment has been used dozens of times per week since the beginning of . the year, and a circus crew had installed it last week, Payne said. The crew told investigators the clip had been visually inspected before the show.
Eight acrobats injured on Sunday when platform for 'hair-hanging' stunt collapsed in Rhode Island .
Investigators are working out what caused the clamp to snap .
Acrobat Samantha Pitard, 23, is the first of the troupe to walk on her own .
She said she is lucky to be alive and that all circus performers are aware of the risks .
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus is back on the road .
By . Associated  Press Reporter . One of eight circus acrobats who plummeted about 20 feet to the ground during a hair-hanging stunt says she's thankful she's alive and wants to return to the ring. 'I'm hoping to join back up with the tour and show the world that I'm OK, and I'm hoping some of the other girls will do the same,' Samantha Pitard told The Associated Press yesterday after she was released from a hospital. Pitard and seven other acrobats were in an act described as a 'human chandelier', in which they were hanging from an apparatus by their hair. They were injured during a Sunday performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus when a clip at the top of the chandelier-like apparatus snapped, dropping them to the ground 20 or more feet below. The other women are still hospitalized. Scroll down for video . Grateful: Samantha Pitard (pictured left and right) has revealed she is the only member of the injured troupe who can walk on her own following the circus accident . Hurt: Samantha Pitard (pictured) and seven other acrobats were injured during a Sunday performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus . Lucky to be alive: Samantha Ellen Pitard (bottom center) has been released from hospital after she and seven other acrobats of plummeted about 20-feet to the ground during a hair-hanging stunt on Sunday . Pitard, 23, a native of Champaign, Illinois, said she is the only one of the troupe who can walk on her own. The others need assistance or have not tried to walk because they are still undergoing operations. But she said the others are expected to fully recover and everyone is in good spirits. 'Every single one of us in the troupe, every single circus performer, knows that they are risking their lives every time they go out there to perform or practice,' she said. 'We hope it doesn't happen, but we know that we are taking that risk, and we love it enough to take that risk every day to make people happy.' Pitard said it was a normal day and normal performance on Sunday. The curtain dropped to reveal the eight women suspended in the air, but it went wrong as soon as they did their third leg position. 'We heard a huge crack, huge noise, and then we were just plummeting to the ground,' she said. 'It was very fast. I remember everything.' Gripping: Smart phone footage captured by an audience member shows a curtain fall to reveal a platform from which acrobats were suspended by their hair . Shocking: Gasps of horror can be heard from the audience when the circus platform suddenly plummets . The . 350-pound chandelier fell on top of them. She said the rescue crews got . to them quickly to free them from the apparatus, then give them medical . attention. 'I . was sitting up, and once I caught my breath, I was looking at all the . girls,' she said. 'I wanted to know that everybody was OK. I saw my . troupe leader (Viktoriya Medeiros), she was right next to me, and I . heard her say that she couldn't feel her legs.' The paramedics instructed her to lie down. Pitard . described her injuries, including fractures on her spine, a cut on her . head that required three stitches and a badly bitten tongue, as minor. Massive fall: Eight acrobats performing the 'human chandelier' were injured in the fall at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in Providence, Rhode Island on Sunday . Major injuries: An injured female performer is lifted onto a stretcher after a platform collapsed during an aerial hair-hanging stunt at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Sunday . Local . investigators have completed an initial probe into the circus accident . and are turning over a broken clip and other material to federal . workplace safety investigators. The . carabiner clip was one of several pieces at the top of a . chandelier-like apparatus that was suspending the acrobats during Sunday . morning's performance before 3,900 people, many of them children. Fire . investigator Paul Doughty said investigators have narrowed down the cause of the broken clip to . two possibilities: a manufacturing defect or improper use. The latter could have to do with how it was installed in the rigging, he said. 'Human chandelier': The eight female acrobats were attempting this aerial hair-hanging stunt when it went horribly wrong at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Sunday . The . circus inspected all of its equipment on Monday night when it loaded up . in Providence and planned another inspection when it unloaded in . Hartford, Connecticut, said Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld . Entertainment, Ringling's parent company. The . circus is replacing each carabiner in the show before the next . performance, on Thursday in Hartford, he said. The hair act won't be . performed there, the company said. The . equipment has been used dozens of times per week since the beginning of . the year, and a circus crew had installed it last week, Payne said. The crew told investigators the clip had been visually inspected before the show.
Samantha Pitard told The Associated Press revealed she is the only member of the injured troupe who can walk on her own following the and Barnum & Bailey circus . Lucky to be alive: during a hair-hanging stunt on Sunday . Pitard, 23, a native of Champaign, Illinois, said she is the only one of the troupe who can walk on her audience when the circus platform suddenly Bailey Circus in Providence, Rhode Island on stunt at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and