Thornton Man Suing Travis Scott After Deadly Astroworld Festival, Citing Collapsed Lung And Other Injuries
(CBS4) - An 18-year-old man from Thornton is suing performer Travis Scott and the concert promoters of the fatal Astroworld festival for at least $1 million.
Angel Martinez alleges he was knocked down and bruised and is now recovering from crash-like injuries and a collapsed lung.
His mother bought Martinez and his cousin tickets for the festival for Martinez's 18th birthday. He and his cousin flew to Houston on Nov. 4.
In the lawsuit, Martinez describes realizing the capacity of the crowd was too large for the designated area as the musical sets progressed and performers "hyped the crowd" at the concert on Nov. 5.
The lawsuit describes the scene as "The pressure and impact from the condensed crowd began to rapidly increase with no signs of stopping. The pressure and suffocation of body upon body quickly went from innocent comradery (sic)."
The suit says Martinez was knocked down several times in the panic of the crowd and also believed he was walking on fellow concertgoers at times. Once he and his cousin got out of the concert barriers, they went back to their hotel. That's when Martinez said he was having chest pains and shortness of breath. At first he took over-the-counter medicine and tried to rest but by the next morning, he was sore, bruised, had developed a cough and his shortness of breath was getting worse. He came home on Nov. 7 and the symptoms continued with shortness of breath, chest pain and a persistent cough. On Nov. 16, he told the school nurse he was experiencing "bubbling in his chest." The nurse listened to his chest and reported hearing clicking sounds.
The lawsuit alleges those symptoms were Bibasilar crackles which are indicative of excessive fluid in the air sacs of the lung.
Martinez's mother took to him a freestanding ER where a doctor diagnosed him with a collapsed lung secondary to crush injuries and blunt force trauma. Martinez was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
When doctors tried to reinflate his lung, Martinez was conscious and screamed so loudly his mother had to removed from the treatment area because "of the unbearable impact she experienced in seeing her child languish in pain" according to the suit.
That first attempt to reinflate the lung was not successful and Martinez spent days with a tube in his chest according to the suit.
The suit said doctors will take months to determine the extent of his injuries to his chest, head, neck and back but the emotional damage is already permanent.
The lawsuit charges the chaos at the Astroworld festival was not unforeseeable pointing to the festival held in 2019 with reports of fans breaching security barriers, rushing the stage and concertgoers trampling each other.
The suit points to the past behavior of Travis Scott, including two arrests for inciting violence and a riot.
The suit says Scott and the other concert promoters including Live Nation were negligent and failed to provide a safe environment including providing enough security and medical personnel.
The $1 million demand would cover medical expenses, mental and physical pain and suffering as well as disfigurement.