Wheelchair User On Why He Hates ‘That’ Festival Photo

As told to Ouch.

A picture of a man in a wheelchair at a festival being raised up by the crowd is being shared widely as “brilliant”. But when the same thing happened to 25-year-old Ollie Knocker from York, it didn’t end well.

In December 2013 I travelled to Australia from my hometown of York to find work and explore the other side of the world. This was a huge challenge for me as I suffer from a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Bethlem Myopathy and use a wheelchair permanently. My brother came out with me for three weeks to help me overcome any initial hurdles like finding a suitable place to live and work.

I made a great group of friends quite quickly and one day they suggested I should go with them to a dance music festival on New Years Day to celebrate. I am a big fan of live music, and electronic music in particular, so I jumped at the offer.

Going to events like this can be a little daunting as the majority of people there are often drunk. Being in a wheelchair means I become the centre of attention for a lot of people who mean well and just want to show me praise or respect for not letting the wheelchair stop me having fun. But sometimes they get rowdy and then I need my friends to intervene.

On that particular day I arrived at the festival on a bus with 20 to 30 friends and my brother, so I was well catered for in the friends (bodyguard) department. After several hours of having a great time I went to the front of one of the main stages with some of my friends. They asked me if I wanted them to lift me up a bit so I could see better – I said yes. I knew they weren’t too drunk, and being friends they knew how to hold the chair. They lifted it up and held me elevated for about 20 seconds – everyone cheered and it was great.

But after an hour, my friends had gone and I was dancing in a new group of people. Some of the men in this group, who were well intoxicated by now and had obviously seen me lifted by my friends earlier, thought they would have a go too. Without asking me they grabbed my wheelchair and raised it up before I could say no. After 10 long seconds the guy at the front slipped on the wet grass and my wheelchair fell forwards. I landed awkwardly on my legs twisting them painfully.

I immediately knew my legs were broken but, due to the alcohol, initially the pain wasn’t too bad. One of the guys who dropped me lifted me back into the chair and after a quick apology continued dancing. I asked one of them to take me to the medical tent straight away but I didn’t look as if I was in pain so they didn’t believe me. After some persistence they called an ambulance which took nearly an hour to arrive. By this time my brother had returned and was beside himself in tears.

I broke both my legs in three places that day. I was put into two casts from my toes to my hips and lay in hospital for three weeks before being sent to a rehabilitation centre for a further three. I couldn’t have the casts removed for three months.

My mum had to fly out to Australia to help me get back on my feet and without her I would have not been able to leave rehab for months. This was all after three weeks of getting to Australia and I was meant to be travelling up the east coast and exploring the continent.

It was one of the hardest physical and mental challenges I have ever had to overcome and has now made me paranoid about my health and general safety. It has also contributed to me having anxiety and panic attacks too, for example when I see the photo that is circulating at the moment of the man “crowdsurfing” at Glastonbury I shudder. It isn’t helped by my friends who keep tagging me in it.