I'm gonna die.
I was like "No, this is it."
This is... like, there's no going back from this.
You go to a festival thinking that you're gonna have fun...
thinking that you're gonna feel safe.
Thinking that you're gonna be in a situation
where you could die is the last thing on your mind.
I worked as a lifeguard.
I've been working as a lifeguard since 2014.
I was working casually at a retail job.
And I was studying secondary teaching.
I was preparing to go on an exchange
to McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
I'd actually just started going to the gym.
I wanted to run a marathon. That was my goal.
Back in 2016,
Maddy and Michela didn't know each other.
But a terrifying experience at Victoria's Falls Festival that year
would change that.
I get really excited with, like, what I'm gonna dress up like,
what kind of glitter I'm going to put on my face.
Make up, all that kind of stuff. I get really into it.
Because it was meant to be the time before I was leaving for Canada
I was feeling the love from everyone.
I was like "These people I'm not going to see for a long time."
So I was trying to make the most of the opportunity.
At the DMA's, it was crazy. There were so many people.
There were people climbing up on the sides of the fences
because they wanted to see cos it was so packed.
People climbing up on the poles, like...
It was crazy. And it was wild.
It was insane.
Everyone was really vibing it.
And they were good. But...
I can't listen to them anymore.
Basically, when the gig ended,
everyone started filing for the exits cos London Grammar was playing.
So everyone was really keen to get to their gig.
We were literally like sardines.
And the closer we got to the exit, the squashier it got.
And it got to the point where I wasn't actually moving.
The crowd was moving me.
I wasn't able to move forward
but there were still people pushing against me from behind.
And I fell onto the person in front of me.
And I felt someone fall on top of me.
And I could just feel the air get squashed out of my lungs.
And I wasn't able to take another breath.
And then more people started piling...
..started piling on top of me.
Was there any point where you actually feared for your life?
I was screaming as much as I could
like "Help! Someone, help!"
I bit somebody's leg
to...
try and get them...
to notice me and pull me up and out.
But I was... it was just black.
And then after that, I have another blank.
And I remember sort of waking up on the grass somewhere
and realising that my arm was paralysed.
After a few CT scans
and X-rays and MRIs,
they realised that it was a fracture in my pelvis.
You're looking at this thing attached to you, like
"I should be able to move it."
But no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't.
The pressure burst all the blood vessels in my face and my eyes.
That's what the bruising was from.
I couldn't go to the toilet by myself. I couldn't shower by myself.
I couldn't do anything.
I thought "I can't go to Canada like this."
I can't even... I can't dress myself. I can't eat.
I didn't want to go on exchange like that.
This is gonna stay with me for the rest of my life.
It's affected me in more ways than I can tell you.
I've been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
As it got better, as I got movement back in my arm,
I started getting really bad nerve pain
and that was just excruciating.
Like having fire shooting down my arm, that's what it felt like.
I don't handle big crowds very well.
I tripped over at work the other day and I had a panic attack.
Sometimes, just being on the train in general
just makes me feel really uneasy.
In cars as well, I started getting really jumpy
with oncoming traffic.
I'm terrified of being injured again.
Maddy and Michela were just two of more than 70 people
injured in the crush.
They say they're victims of negligent site design
and program scheduling
that pushed too many people through too few exits at once.
Still really puffy, still like...
- Yeah. - Really bloody.
- That's my shoulder. - Oh, goodness.
They're now part of a $4 million compensation battle
against festival organisers.
So why do you think that the crush happened?
I think what contributed was the size of the exits
and the amount of people in the tent.
It was on a hill. There was a steep slope, there was gravel.
People were intoxicated, I get that.
But that shouldn't even be an issue because it's a festival.
There was just a bottleneck and...
you know, whether someone tripped or there was too many people...
it was just a recipe for disaster.
There was no one controlling the crowd.
And they put two of the biggest headlining acts on,
one after the other at different venues.
So, as part of their defence, the organisers of Falls Festival
said that entry to the festival is at the ticket holder's own risk.
What do you say to that?
It's such bullshit. I'm sorry but...
You have a duty of care.
At the end of the day,
I have the other patrons at the festival to thank for pulling me out.
Things didn't stop. London Grammar kept playing.
It was like nothing happened. No one was there.
It's... No, it's not okay.
So why did you decide to sue the festival?
I've had a lot of losses as a result of the incident.
A lot of money has gone towards medical bills,
seeing specialists... hand specialists, neurologists.
They're not cheap
so I feel like I'm entitled to some compensation.
I want justice.
This was my life
and it's still is my life
and will be my life for ever.
In terms of money,
it probably came to about 15 grand.
Not being able to work, I lost around two to three grand.
And medical bills were stacking up to also two to three grand.
So Worksafe found that there was not enough evidence
to prosecute Ash Sounds
and that the crowd control, crowd size and exits were fine.
What do you say to that?
If these were the regulations and they were met...
obviously they weren't sufficient because they didn't...
They're there to avoid incidents like this happening.
And it did happen.
Like, you can't tell me,
someone who was living it,
that that was completely safe.
I'm living proof that it was not safe.
This week, we might have a settlement.
And this case will be over. How would that feel?
I want it over. I want it done.
I don't want to keep thinking about it.
I think it would just be good closure
and a good way to move on.
I'm moving away from, you know, being that girl crushed at Falls
but I'm never going to forget it.
And it's still affecting me today.