Dubliner Aoife Beary, who survived the Berkeley balcony collapse last year, has told a public hearing in Sacramento, California about the effect the tragedy has had on her and the other families who lost loved ones.
Six young people, most of whom were on J1 visas, died in the balcony tragedy on 16 June 2015.
They were Eimear Walsh, Olivia Burke, Niccolai Schuster, Eoghan Culligan and Lorcán Miller and Ms Burke's cousin Irish-American Ashley Donohoe.
The students had been celebrating the 21st birthday of Ms Beary.
Addressing today's hearing, Ms Beary said she missed her friends whom she had known since they started school together at age four.
"Now my birthday will always be their anniversary," she said.
Berkeley survivor tells hearing about the effect the balcony collapse tragedy has had on her and the other familieshttps://t.co/FepV0htI72
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She also described the injuries she suffered; a traumatic brain injury, open heart surgery, broken arms, hands, pelvis and jaw, as well as lacerations to her liver, kidneys and spleen, a collapsed lung and broken ribs.
Her mother Angela Beary addressed the hearing on behalf of all those who had lost loved ones, saying their lives would never be the same again.
Also at the hearing Jackie Donohoe, mother of Ashley who died in the tragedy, said the young people on the balcony that night had been failed by a system that helped companies to hide their negligence.
Construction industry representatives at the hearing withdrew their opposition to a new law, which will require them to report previous convictions for shoddy work.
