Falls Issues Statement On Their Response To Those Injured In Lorne Crush

Falls Festival has released a further statement in response to the crush at Falls Lorne that saw 80 people injured, 19 of which were hospitalised, after some of those affected began speaking to the media about their experience.
Yesterday, P.TV spoke to a 22-year-old named Maddy who had earlier spoken about the aftermath of the experience with Triple J‘s ‘Hack‘, who was quick to defend Falls and said that not all of the blame should be placed on the organisers:
“I don’t want to blame one thing, one person. Because then you could be blaming the people that pushed me, or DMA’s for being so popular.”
Maddy passed out after falling to the ground and having the air forced out of her lungs; receiving severe gravel rash, a broken sacrum (a small bone at the base of your spine that is critical to walking, it turns out) and some extremely hectic bilateral subconjunctival haemorrhage AKA two very reddened black eyes:

Falls’ new statement says they are taking pains to remain in communication with everyone involved, including specifically Maddy’s mum (who has said to take time off work to help care for her), and have set up a counselling service for those affected by the incident:
“There is a process in place whereby we have been directly contacting patrons who were involved in the incident. This process has been underway for some time, and there have been a large number of people who have been contacted to date, including Maddy’s mother. We are still working through this process and still contacting people. 

“We have asked those people who we have contacted for information relating to their experience / involvement in the incident, so we can consider everything thoroughly and fairly. For the short term, we have given details for a 24 hour counselling service we have set up and we are ensuring these patrons have the relevant contacts they need for future communication and follow up, which we have made clear is open and available at any time.”
The statement, issued late last night, largely seems to be a response to claims in the ‘Hack‘ article that there had been little communication with Maddy or her parents about the incident and no talk of compensation for the incident, it also noted that she was hoping to hear from them again soon. 
You can read the statement in full here:
“We would like to clarify and update you all with regards to the Lorne incident, and recent media reports. There is a process in place whereby we have been directly contacting patrons who were involved in the incident. This process has been underway for some time, and there have been a large number of people who have been contacted to date, including Maddy’s mother. We are still working through this process and still contacting people. 

“We have asked those people who we have contacted for information relating to their experience / involvement in the incident, so we can consider everything thoroughly and fairly. For the short term, we have given details for a 24 hour counselling service we have set up and we are ensuring these patrons have the relevant contacts they need for future communication and follow up, which we have made clear is open and available at any time. 

“We are currently undertaking investigations into the incident. This process is ongoing, with various parties involved, and we are endeavouring to do this as quickly and as thoroughly as possible to be able to deal with all enquiries. We want to ensure the correct protocol is being followed so that all involved are given the depth of consideration they need to give them the chance to get the best possible outcome. 

“We want to get this right, for the long term, so it is imperative that the correct procedures are followed.”
Source: Hack, supplied statement.
Photos: Supplied.

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