HOUSTON – Marine veteran Anthony Gruetzmacher had high hopes attending Sunday's Metallica concert at NRG Stadium.
All was well until Gruetzmacher -- diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a deployment to Iraq -- had an episode at the beginning of the performance.
"About four or five songs into the Metallica set I was having issues," recalls Gruetzmacher. "I was having PTSD-type symptoms, kind of a panic attack almost."
Gruetzmacher and his wife eventually went outside so he could calm down -- and after about 10 minutes he says they tried to return to the concert.
They were told by security they couldn't come back inside the stadium.
"When my wife explained to them what happened and what was going on, the first lady said, 'I can't make any decisions. See if you can find someone in a blue shirt. They're responsible.' So she did, and the same thing and they said, 'No, you can't go back in,'" Gruetzmacher said.
In an email to Gruetzmacher -- NRG Park Guest Services wrote Wednesday:
"We at NRG Park send our apologies for the way we handled our interactions with you during your visit to NRG Park for the Metallica concert. Unfortunately, we are sometimes too black and white in our policies and fail to recognize when it is appropriate to adjust the rules for the safety and enjoyment of our guests."
Gruetzmacher is thankful for the email and says he doesn't want to slam NRG. He's hoping for a larger discussion about the impact of PTSD.
"We had 10 years of war. The guys who are getting out, coming out. A lot of them don't even know they have it yet," he said. "It's not just something the VA can deal with. It's gonna be a problem that we all have to deal with."
Gruetzmacher says he hopes his situation causes NRG and other venues to reassess their policies and put a plan in case to prevent something like this from happening again.
