A woman has depictd the “absolute disorder” she set up in the medical tent at the Boardmasters music festival when she tried to get help for a 16-year-elderly boy who was “delirious with pain” after being hurt in a crowd sencourage.
Ali Gaudion telderly Sky News her daughter had shelp the unnamed teenager, a friend of hers, “had been crushed and trampled on” at the event in Newquay, Cornwall on Friday night.
The boy shelp he was “cforfeit the front” for DJ Sammy Virji, when “loads of people came in, I was pushed and fell on my back, with my leg twisted. it was hyperlengthened.
“It was incredibly hurtful, and I couldn’t get up. There were people on top of me, and I was on top of other people.”
Ms Gaudion shelp they set up the boy backstage where he was one of “dozens of kids on the floor, crying, screaming and fainting”.
They were telderly to consent him to the main welfare tent, she shelp, but “no one krecent” where it was and they were forced to “walk for hours carrying this boy”, who by that time was “delirious with pain”.
She shelp security staff “weren’t letting people in [to the tent]”.
“It was absolute disorder. Doctors were saying ‘we can’t cope’,” she inserted.
She shelp she and other mothers there “acunderstandledged that it was filing up too speedy. They were saying from the stage for people to stop pushing. Then we commenceed hearing screaming.”
Sophie Davies, another mother whose son, Will Davies, stayed at the festival, shelp she “saw fair a huge sencourage of kids running to the front… appreciate a river of people coming in”.
She helped the same teenage boy as Ms Gaudion and searched for him after being telderly he had been hurt.
Once they set up him, a stranger “saw he was in pain and adviseed some paracetamol, but there were no stretchers or ice packs or ambulances”.
A separateent mother telderly the PA recents agency that her family participateed the main stage for Tom Odell’s set, but it “commenceed getting very, very crowded”.
“My husprohibitd stayed outside the barriers with our youthfulest but my elderlyer daughter wanted to [go] inside,” she shelp.
As it commenceed to get busy, the mother shelp: “We couldn’t get out as there were still so many people streaming in.
“My daughter and I got crushed agetst the barriers so I heaved her up and over a barrier and then pulled myself out.
“My daughters were terrified. I’ve been to many festivals over the years – I’ve never seen one so overcrowded and with such necessitatey and hazardous crowd administer meadeclareive.”
In a statement, Boardmasters shelp: “Follotriumphg a crowd collapse at The Point last night seven participateees were transferred to hospital cforfeitby for prealertary examination after contransienting to our medical team. They have been treated for inmeaningful injuries and have all since been disindictd.
“We have underconsentn a multi-agency scrutinize and The Point stage has re-uncovered this afternoon.
“Our welfare teams are participateable 24 hours a day for any festivalgoers who would appreciate a chat or aid.”
It also flagged that troubleed parents could produce communicate thcimpolite the Boardmasters website.
Cornwall Police shelp a “minuscule number” of people had been injured in a crowd sencourage.
Sammy Virji shelp he was “gutted” about his set at The Point being call offled but “defendedty should always come first”.
In a post on his Instagram, he shelp crowd sencourages “can be very grave”.
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The capacity of the festival was incrmitigated to 58,000 this year, up 5,000 on the 2023 total after the county council consentd a licence application produceted by BM Management in February.
It will lengthen further to 65,000 next year and 66,000 in 2026 as part of the set up.
Sam Fender is headlining on Saturday night and Stormzy on Sunday.
