GREENFIELD, Wis. — Caitlin Nero, a Greenfield resident, has vowed to never attend another music festival again after her traumatizing experience at the Astroworld Music festival in Houston, that killed 8 people.
Attending the festival was on her boyfriend's bucket list.
"The day tickets went on sale, he was like I'm getting these I don't care. We were just like oh this will be a nice time to just relax and enjoy ourselves," said Nero.
The couple stood near the front of the stage as rapper Travis Scott performed. Nero says it was jam-packed.
"There was no way out. We were so packed in, it wasn't like a normal crowd," she said.
There were several times throughout the show where she felt light-headed and some of that was due to the pyrotechnics that was a part of Scott's show.
"It definitely made the air between the people super hot, it felt like it was 104 degrees that I was breathing in. It was really bad," Nero recalled.
The conditions were so bad that as soon as the concert ended, they wanted to leave as fast as they could, but that's when they began to experience the chaotic stampede.
"I didn't stop to think about the people that were behind me, it probably took them 20 to 30 minutes to get out of that and if you don't have enough oxygen and it's hot, you're gonna push harder. I mean if you want to survive, you're going to do anything," Nero said. "I think it's sad how people are now blaming people like me who went when I wasn't trying to push anyone. I was trying to get air. I was trying to live. The people in front of me were probably doing that even more."
Nero believes more safety measures should have been put in place.
"It's just sad if something that wrong was going on, I should have seen security running around, I should've seen medics. I didn't see one security guard or one medic that entire set."
A representative of Travis Scott released a statement on Monday vowing to cover all funeral costs of the 8 victims that died.
"Travis remains in active conversations with the city of Houston, law enforcement, and local first responders to respectfully and appropriately connect with the individuals and families of those involved," the statement reads. "These are the first of many steps Travis plans on taking as a part of his personal vow to assist those affected throughout their grieving and recovery process."
Nero and her boyfriend have already received a full refund of their tickets from the festival.
"We just heard from them for the first time today about a refund which we don't care about because those lives lost are not worth the $800 for both those tickets," said Nero.
