r/UTAustin • u/JiayingX • 23h ago
Discussion Today Is the Seventh Day Since I Lost My Baby Sunny — How the ACL Music Festival Took Away My Family, Health, and Academic Life
Edit 2: I want to clarify that I am not sharing this to seek financial compensation. I simply wanted to create a memorial for Sunny and remind people living near major festivals to take extra care of their pets, especially those who are easily frightened or sensitive to noise.
If possible, I also hope people can prepare some basic emergency supplies and know what to do in an emergency, whether for their pets or themselves.
The reason I filed complaints was that I wanted to understand what exactly happened and receive a reasonable explanation. I also hope there can be better preventive measures in the future, such as sending advance notices to nearby residents about potential noise, vibrations, and traffic disruptions, so that people can better prepare and protect their families and pets.
I am not trying to blame anyone or ask for money. I just want Sunny to be remembered, and I hope that sharing his story might help prevent something similar from happening to another family.
I may be a little emotional at times because I’m still undergoing psychological therapy.
Today Is the Seventh Day Since I Lost My Baby Sunny — How the ACL Music Festival Took Away My Family, Health, and Academic Life
Today Is the Seventh Day Since I Lost My Baby Sunny — How the ACL Music Festival Took Away My Family, Health, and Academic Life
Today marks the seventh day since the passing of my family member, my child, Sunny.
In Chinese tradition, on the seventh day after a family member passes away, their soul returns home from the afterlife to visit their loved ones. I lit two candles to guide Sunny on his way home, and three sticks of incense, hoping that he would be filled with peace and happiness. I also prepared his favorite canned food, treats, and toys, hoping that he could eat his favorite food and play with his favorite toys one last time.
Over the past week, I have tried to file complaints with the City of Austin about the noise and traffic problems caused by the ACL Music Festival. However, they told me that they were sorry for my loss, but everything was in compliance with the regulations. They did not provide me with many details and then closed my complaint.
I am in so much pain. I have lost almost everything because of the noise from this music festival.
My cat Sunny was a purebred Maine Coon. He was a gift from my family to accompany me on my Ph.D. journey, and he was also my emotional support animal. We spent $3,300 bringing him home from LMCooNCat. He had no HCM genetic mutations or heart problems.
Because he became sick from the noise, I spent more than $400 taking him to the vet for injections and medication, but I still could not save his life.
At approximately 9:40 p.m. on October 9, as the music grew louder and louder, he suddenly went into cardiac arrest right in front of me due to extreme stress.
I could not get an Uber at all. I do not have a car, and it was also around the time when people were leaving the music festival. I missed the last chance to save his life.
All I could do was perform CPR on him for an entire hour. But I am not a professional, and I did not have a defibrillator (AED).
Later that night, I spent another $500 or more taking him to a pet cremation service because I simply could not bear to face his body.
When I went to the pet cremation service to pick up my child, I experienced severe hyperventilation and anxiety and was taken to the emergency room by ambulance. This was another devastating blow to my health and financial situation.
Even now, I am still frequently receiving emergency psychological counseling and crisis intervention.
I am a Ph.D. student. I originally had a conference submission deadline on October 15. The reason I left home at 8 a.m. and returned at 8 p.m. every day was that I was working so hard to meet this deadline.
I worked so hard that I neglected the dangers of the noise. Many of my friends complained to me about the noise from the ACL Music Festival and the vibrations it caused in UT housing's building. But I ignored these concerns again and again, even when my cat had already become sick because of it.
However, because my physical and mental condition completely collapsed, I missed the conference submission deadline and had to take an entire week off.
Afterward, I am going to leave my current living environment because I feel anxious every time when I pass by living room when Sunny passed away, and also afraid of
future music festivals. That will also cost me even more time, energy, and money.
This music festival has destroyed everything in my life. It took away a member of my family. It took away my physical and mental health. It destroyed my academic work and completely drained my savings.
I’m so stupid. I don’t really use social media at all, and I don’t even know how to make a post. It took me three tries to finally post this successfully.
