It was a noise that sent a chill down Fay MacFarlane's spine.
"I hear this big bang and was like, 'That's not quite right', turned around and yeah," she said, becoming emotional as she remembered the moment.
"[It] felt like slow motion walking over there."
Her circus and life partner Anthony Tran was lying motionless on the ground at an acrobatics performance during the 2020 Perth Fringe World festival.
"Halfway through the show, I was doing an aerial apparatus, aerial rope — and I let go of the rope when I wasn't meant to," he said.
"I was four metres up and I fell head and shoulders first to the floor."
It was a circus performer's worst nightmare.
"[I] didn't quite realise the severity of it, cause I obviously didn't see the fall," Fay said.
"Seeing everyone stabilise his neck was very scary."
Anthony, who was knocked out by the impact, had fractured four vertebrae and was rushed to hospital.
What followed was three months in a back brace, followed by many more months of rehabilitation, and a turnaround that has been nothing short of remarkable.
However, it has taken a great deal of physical effort and self-belief to reach this point.
In the immediate aftermath of the fall, Anthony's future as a performer was hanging in the balance.
When the now 31-year-old regained consciousness in the back of the ambulance on the way to hospital, he was completely unaware of how bad his injuries were.
"Ant was trying to give [complimentary] tickets to the ambulance drivers for the next night's show, because he thought he would be back," Fay said.
"I knew he wouldn't be back the next night, but I don't think I quite realised how serious it was."
Overcoming doubt, restoring confidence
Three years on, Anthony and Fay are back on stage, and their very personal stage show has attracted rave, five-star reviews at the Adelaide Fringe.
Regardless, the normally optimistic, effervescent acrobat still vividly recalls the moments of uncertainty in which he doubted he would ever make a comeback.
"There was one day, particularly, where I reflected and thought, 'Maybe this is it. Maybe no more for me'," Anthony said.
While the feeling did not last long, Anthony realised he would never be the same performer.
"When I came back to train aerial rope there were many moments where I had to wait, breathe and — with any kind of trauma management — it's about small exposures," he said.
However, just a year later, he was back in the air, a wiser and more-aware acrobat.
"I still have moments where, if I'm up high or even when I'm down low watching people perform, I have these flashes of, 'Oh, what would happen? What are the risks? What are the dangers? Is everything safe?'" he said.
"I think all circus performers learn to manage that fear because, if you don't manage that fear, then you will never look that nice."
Fay's day job is in nursing and she saw firsthand just how much damage Anthony had suffered in the fall.
She had to put that painful memory to the side to support his comeback and again perform together.
Through mutual reliance, they prop each other up.
"I need to trust that on stage," she said.
"I trust his skill and I'm confident in his ability."
