Camp Verde , Arizona ( CNN ) -- Several participants in a 2009 `` sweat lodge '' ritual that left three people dead were collapsing and `` having issues '' in the superheated environment , a survivor testified Thursday in an Arizona self-help guru 's manslaughter trial . `` I mentioned several times that I thought people were having issues and needed help to leave , and they did n't wish to leave , '' Melissa Phillips testified . She said she could hear `` a snorting breath sound '' from one of the participants , Kirby Brown , who died after the October 2009 event . Phillips said during the event , one of her friends had collapsed `` and could n't feel her legs , and her husband was really concerned . So I asked the angels to help me and I did the breathwork affirmations that I was taught . '' Phillips was the first witness in the trial of James Arthur Ray , who faces reckless manslaughter charges stemming from his `` Spiritual Warrior '' retreat outside Sedona , Arizona . The sweat lodge hosted a purification ritual for participants modeled on Native American customs . Prosecutors argued that the lodge -- made of willow trees and branches , and covered with tarpaulins and blankets -- was heated to a perilously high temperature , causing the participants to suffer dehydration and heatstroke . Brown , 38 , of Westtown , New York , and James Shore , 40 , of Milwaukee , died the night of the October 2009 event , while Lizbeth Marie Neuman , 49 , of Prior Lake , Minnesota , died nine days later . At least 15 others who took part fell ill , but more than 40 others were uninjured . Ray , 53 , had conducted his Spiritual Warrior Retreat for six years at a cost of about $ 10,000 to participants . The sweat lodge , 5 feet tall and 23 feet wide , was built to accommodate up to 75 people . There was a pit in the center where heated rocks were placed , and Ray poured water over the stones to create steam . Defense attorney Luis Li told jurors as the trial began Tuesday that the deaths were `` a tragic accident -- not a crime . '' But prosecutors maintain Ray psychologically pressured participants to remain in the lodge even when they were n't feeling well , contributing to their deaths . Under cross-examination , Phillips acknowledged signing a release form that warned of an `` inherent risk '' of injury in some activities in Ray 's program . But she said she would n't have taken part `` if I had thought my life could be in jeopardy . '' She also said she had left the lodge at one point , but went back in . When she finally left , `` I could n't walk immediately . and I was shaking and I was overheated and not feeling well , '' Phillips said . Paramedics had been called by that time , and when one told her she may have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning , `` I freaked out . '' `` I decided I had medical insurance and would go to the hospital and get checked out , '' she said . In Session 's Monique Oliver contributed to this report .
Survivor testifies about purification event . Three people died after the 2009 event in Arizona . Score: 7