To date, 14-year-old John Hilgert has been the youngest reported fatality resulting from Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival on November 5. But among the critically injured is a boy reportedly fighting for his life in Houston after being trampled during the chaos.
Reported to be between 9 and 10 years old by various outlets, Ezra Blount was atop his father as Treston Blount’s shoulders at Astroworld “in order to stay out of and above the crowd,” per the New York Post. However, when the crowd surged, it crushed Treston to the point of passing out, causing his young son to also topple to the ground, where he was caught underfoot by other concertgoers.
“[Treston] kept screaming, ‘I can’t breathe.’ But everyone was pushing. It was so tight with no exits. His dad couldn’t breathe at all and passed out. We don’t really know what happened to Ezra after that,” Tericia Blount, the boy’s grandmother, told Rolling Stone.
“My son had Ezra on his shoulders at the concert and my son couldn’t breathe because of all the pressure that was being applied to him and he passed out,” Ezra’s grandfather, Bernon Blount further explained to Houston’s ABC13.
“And when he passed out, Ezra fell into the crowd. He was trampled really bad.”
Treston awoke in the festival’s hospital to learn his son had been taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest, according to the Post.
More from ABC13:
Initially, the boy was taken to a hospital as a John Doe, separated from his father. Family members desperately tried to find him, only to discover that Ezra suffered major organ damage and was in a coma.
Relatives tell ABC13 Ezra has severe brain swelling as well. They’re clinging to hope and praying for his recovery.
“It’s horrific. We’re just hanging in there, trying to stay strong,” said Tericia, who is also a nurse. “He has injuries to his kidney, to his lung, to his liver. Basically every organ has damage. He had cardiac arrest. His heart is weak and has damage as well. And his brain has swelling, and he’s in an induced coma. They’re just trying to keep him comfortable and trying to figure out a plan for him. They tried to take him off the medications that were paralyzing him, to keep him still, and they had to put him back on. We’re just at that place right now, just hoping for the best in spite of all the negative information.”
“I’m a nurse, but it’s still horrifying to see Ezra like this because that’s a part of us there,” she told Rolling Stone. “Why couldn’t this have been prevented? I’m just angry and sad and upset. Why didn’t Travis Scott stop? Wasn’t he watching the ambulances and people performing CPR? Doesn’t he care about the city of Houston? The mayor gave him the key. This is the city he’s from. Why wasn’t he looking out for the people?”
Ezra—who his grandmother calls a “joy to be around,” also “loves music, skateboarding, school, his mom and dad, [and is] an all-around entertainer.” He also reportedly loved huge Travis Scott, having become a fan of the rapper’s collaboration with online video game Fortnite. As the boy remains in a coma, a GoFundMe has also been launched to assist with expenses. Rolling Stone reports the Blounts have also retained attorney Ben Crump, who issued the following statement to the outlet:
“The suffering that this family is going through is immeasurable. This little boy had his whole life ahead of him—a life that is currently hanging in the balance because of the reckless mismanagement that ensued at the Astroworld Festival. We ask everyone to send up the most powerful prayers they can as this family tries to grapple with the undoable damage that has been done to their son. We demand justice for EB, his family, and all of our clients that left Astroworld with trauma.”
“We have a lot of anger right now because someone is responsible for the condition of our grandson,” Bernon told Rolling Stone. “I can’t help picturing in my mind what he had to go through to get those injuries. Someone should be held responsible. He went there with his father to have a good time, not to be trampled halfway to… I don’t want to even say the word.”
“How could this happen in the city of Houston? You know, when we go to concerts and different events we expect safety and security,” Bernon added in his interview with ABC13, calling for accountability in his grandson’s “heartbreaking” injuries. “He’s a small, innocent child. He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve it at all.”