When Kerry Deague arrived at A Day on the Green in Geelong last year, she never expected she would leave the music festival requiring major surgery and unable to return to her job.
The event at Mt Duneed Estate, which featured headline acts, went ahead on 19 November despite forecasts of thunderstorms and damaging winds. As the rain increased, the area descended into a sloshy, muddy, flooded field. While trying to move through the mud in gumboots, Ms Deague suffered two significant leg fractures to her tibia and fibula.
“The ambulance couldn’t get to me and they said we can’t even get a buggy out to you because of the mud. My husband had to carry me and recruit a stranger to help. My leg and foot are still very inflamed and I needed a wheelchair to get around. I now have a leg filled with metal plates for the rest of my life and I still need crutches to move,” she said.
“The event should have been cancelled by the organisers. It was irresponsible for them to go ahead with it with those conditions having been predicted. It was a paid event and they did not provide a safe environment for us to be kept out of the elements. We were sent an information update saying that the concert venue itself was fine for the show to go ahead.”
The 59-year-old former mental health worker is bringing a Public Liability claim against the festival organisers, Roundhouse Entertainment, with the help of Slater and Gordon Lawyers, in the hope of recovering lost wages, medical costs and compensation for pain and suffering the injury has caused her.
“I haven’t been able to work since the event last year. I was casual in an industry that requires very physical work. I’ve missed out on a lot of the work and there is nothing left. I have a 35-year work history and I am not eligible for unemployment or retirement,” Ms Deague said.
“I had to hire a wheelchair the medical bills are piling up and my husband, friends and family have had to care for me. On top of this, I’ve had to get Ubers and taxis to appointments. A lot of people assume that Day on the Green would be compensating me, but they’re not and I’ve had to take legal action.”
Slater and Gordon Public Liability Senior Associate Alexandra Agathouli said that all too often many people injured in public and privately owned areas did not know their legal rights.
“If you have been injured due to another person or group failing to ensure that a public event is conducted in a safe manner, it’s likely they are legally liable for your injury. For Kerry, her injuries have affected her ability to earn money and make a living. Festival organisers and those who manage the grounds had a duty of care to take reasonable steps so that people attending the event were not exposed to foreseeable risks – unfortunately this did not occur,” Ms Agathouli said.
“What was supposed to have been a fun-filled day of live music with friends, escalated into a very dangerous set of circumstances following heavy rain, wind and slippery mud up to knee height for festival goers and staff to wade through.
“The organisers claimed the event would be safe for the festival to go ahead despite the poor weather conditions. The premises was clearly not safe for the event to be conducted. It was so muddy that cars in the parking area were having to be removed from the mud with heavy machinery. Attendees were forced to walk around in the mud all day causing the condition of the ground to further deteriorate and become dangerous.”
Ms Agathouli said Kerry was not the only person injured at the event and that she was also investigating other claims where alleged negligence from the festival organiser had caused injuries and preventable harm.
