Coroner Heather McKenzie’s inquest into the 19-year-old’s death continued yesterday in Dunedin.
Miss Crestani died in a stairwell pile-up in 2019 at a flat party dubbed "Maggot Fest", which 400 people were invited to via Facebook.
Since then, her parents — Elspeth McMillan and Bede Crestani — have advocated for safe student behaviour in Dunedin.
A witness, who has interim name suppression , attended the party at the flat known as "The Manor" and said she saw Miss Crestani’s face next to her at the bottom of the pile-up.
Mr Crestani thanked the witness for coming.
"I’m sorry it's not Sophia instead," she said.
"As well," he replied.
The witness explained initially she did not go into the house because it "looked too packed".
After spending some time inside, she tried to leave the overcrowded house but fell from the stairs on to the ground.
"I could see another female face, I think that was Sophia," she said.
The witness broke down in tears at times throughout her evidence.
"I was terrified and I couldn’t move," she said.
"As things got worse, I couldn't see anything, it was pitch dark."
Ms McMillan asked the witness how the night had affected her.
"It was the worst night of my life, by far," the witness replied
"I thought I was going to die."
Samson Aruwa explained people were trying to walk up the stairs as people were attempting to come down.
"There's no way this will work well," he thought.
He assisted with pulling people out of the pile but it was difficult as people were walking over the fallen bodies and people were still trying to get into the house.
"I didn't think it was going to be a long or major issue," he said.
Mr Aruwa explained if people had moved away, the pile likely would have eased more quickly.
The witness thought he was helping clear the pile for at least 15 minutes.
"No matter how many people we pulled out, the pile was getting bigger,’ he said.
"The pile was never ending."
He helped carry Miss Crestani to safety and believed her neck was broken when he lifted her.
The witness recalled someone saying "holy f*** she’s dead".
Ms McMillan thanked Mr Aruwa for helping people in the pile-up and believed more people would have been injured if not for his actions.
"To our family you're an absolute hero," Ms McMillan said.
"We are eternally grateful to you."
The court heard Mr Aruwa was a pallbearer at Miss Crestani’s funeral.
Another party-goer, Fanatanu Tuivaiti was inside "The Manor" but was outside during the pile-up.
"If one person moved, everyone moved," he said.
He saw someone trying to pick Miss Crestani up and ran inside to help.
The witness and another man carried her outside and emergency services began CPR.
"I heard someone say that there was no pulse," he said.
The inquest will continue this afternoon and more party-goers are expected to give evidence.
