I've only recently discovered the story of this girl. What a tragic tale.
Did anyone meet her in '05? Her love for queen was quiet evident.
When i discovered the story, i immediately thought i recognised her, and lo and behold, there she is in the ROTC DVD in the front row singing her heart out.
I noticed a lot of negative posts, however, on other forums. What was so wrong with what she was doing?
Hi. I travelled with her for a few days back in 2005. Actually, it was me who took the picture of her with Roger Taylor, which was later used as front page for her tribute site.
We shared a room in a hotel in Prague with another fan and I had a somewhat long talk with her regarding being a Queen fan and how people may think you are obsessed, etc. My conclusion was that I saw her like many 'regular' (non-fans) people saw me.
I travelled from Mexico to Europe to see the band in 2005 and I became "the ultimate fan" for many of my friends, since nobody else they knew had done something similar to support any artist.
In Vienna, my first Queen gig, I was travelling with a group of fans and I was joining another group the following day. I didn't have a place to stay that night and I didn't have time to book a hostal since I had arrived by car with the other guys directly to the venue. I had no cash and I didn't know how to say "ATM" or anything else in german. I had lost the phone number of the guy I was meeting for the other day. Those were 3 very scary hours for me.
At the end of the show everyone was either going back to their home towns or some place in Vienna where they had booked accomodation. Only she was kind enough to offer a place to stay (even if it was a hostal) when I said something like "Well, I don't have a place to stay, don't speak the language.. I'll sleep at the train station and maybe get stabbed". For this I was very grateful to her. I bought her dinner that time and she was very surprised.
Regarding her "fan" status, well, I think she went to 28 shows or something and she met the band in many occasions. She was even friends with the roadies and they knew her by name. She took a loan from a bank so she could see the band live in every single show. Michelle was in another league.
Was she crazy? For Queen, yes, but in my experience she was very nice and I enjoyed her company for the three days I got to see her.
A few months later I got the news she had been working with some heavy lifting and had been in an accident. It was during the second job she took so she could pay her loan. She passed away like 3 days after my birthday, in mid August 2005. I found out through brianmay.com and I felt very sad for her. I heard Brian even sent flowers to her funeral.