Father injured in SXSW concert

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Michael Mansfield and his 22-year old daughter Megan Mansfield were the second in line at 6 a.m. Thursday to see the Strokes perform at Auditorium Shores.

That got them up to the front of the stage, but they say it also got them in trouble.

"In a nutshell what happened was the crowd just got out of control," said Mr. Mansfield.

The father and daughter says around 7 p.m. when organizers of the free concert would not longer let people in, some angry fans began to climb a fence and rushed through the gates.

"All of a sudden there was this huge surge of people," said Mansfield.

The dad saw young girls in the front row get pushed, so he tried to push the crowd back so the girls, including his own daughter, would not get hurt.  Then he fell to the ground.

"There was so much pressure on me, I went down," said Michael.

"I was kind of freaked out for him.  I knew he was one of the bigger guys toward the front, so I was hoping he would be ok," said Megan.

While on the ground, Michael said he thought the worst.

"I was terrified. More for other people than myself but yeah, I was afraid I might die.  It was pretty bad I mean I felt people's body's cracking around me pushing so hard," he said.

Mansfield said security lifted him up and pulled him from the tight spot.  He suffered scrapes to his arms, hands and elbows as well as bruised knees.

"The real injuries were jus mental it was a very traumatizing experience," he said.

Mansfield cancelled plans to go the free South By Southwest concert on Saturday.

"I love the South By, I really do. It's part of this tradition in Austin, but I'm not going to do it again.  I'm not going to risk my family, I'm not going to risk my daughter.  It's just not worth it," he said.