News November 10, 2021
22-Year-Old Student Brain Dead After Being Injured at Travis Scott’s Fatal Astroworld Festival

A 22-year-old student at Texas A&M University has no brain activity after she was injured at Travis Scott’s fatal Astroworld Festival, according to her family.
While speaking to KTRK on Tuesday, the family of Bharti Shahani — who attended Friday’s concert with her sister Namrata Shahani and her cousin Mohit Bellani — says the young woman has been in critical condition and is on a ventilator following the mass casualty event, which has claimed the lives of at least eight concertgoers.
Per the outlet, Bharti became separated from her group when people in the crowd of around 50,000 began surging towards the stage.
“Once one person fell, people started toppling like dominoes. It was like a sinkhole. People were falling on top of each other,” Mohit told the news channel. “There were like layers of bodies on the ground, like two people thick. We were fighting to come up to the top and breathe to stay alive.”
Amid the chaos, Namrata and Mohit had both lost their cell phones and could not find Bharti.
“Once we let go of her hand, the next time we saw her, we were in the ER,” Namrata said.
Bharti was eventually taken to Houston Methodist Hospital by ambulance. En route, paramedics administered CPR.
Upon hearing the tragic news, Bharti and Namrata’s parents first rushed to the concert’s campgrounds. Then, they traveled to multiple hospitals before they found Bharti.
“They took us to her room, and she was bleeding and on a ventilator. Me and my wife were too shocked. We can’t even stand in there,” Bharti’s father, Sunny Shahani, told the outlet.
Bharti’s family also said she had suffered multiple heart attacks.
“I think she lost oxygen for 10 minutes one time and seven minutes at another time,” Mohit explained. “So her brain stem was swollen to like 90 percent almost.”
Prior to hearing about his daughter’s brain activity, Sunny said doctors told him that “the chances of [Bharti’s] survival are nothing.”
“We keep saying we’ll pray,” Sunny continued. “I request all of Houston to pray for her. Maybe the prayers might work as a miracle for her.”
“I want people to understand what we experienced and to make sure nothing like this ever, ever happens to anyone ever again,” Mohit added.
On Tuesday, Namrata created a GoFundMe to raise funds for her older sister’s medical bills.
“Our family remains by Bharti’s side and are unable to work. We are raising funds to help cover mounting expenses during this strenuous time. Bharti is the light of our lives and we are all praying for her full and speedy recovery. We greatly appreciate any donations and ask that everyone keep Bharti and our family in their prayers during this difficult time,” Namrata wrote.
As of this writing, the page has raised over $45K out of its $50K goal.
Those killed at the concert are Mirza Baig, 27, Rodolfo Peña, 23, Madison Dubiski, 23, Franco Patiño, 21, Jacob Jurinke, 20, John Hilgert, 14, Axel Acosta Avila, 21, and Brianna Rodriguez, 16.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bharti’s family and everyone affected by this tragedy.