Route91Strong

Today, I am exactly one month out from my 29th birthday. This milestone before the big 3-0 feels particularly special and reminds me how blessed I am. Why? Because I have the opportunity to turn 29 healthy, happy and ALIVE.

As many close friends and family know, this easily could not have been the case. On Oct. 1st at my first Route 91 Music Festival, I was singing along to Jason Aldean at the front of the stage with some of my best friends when fireworks started going off. Or what I thought to be fireworks as I have never really been around guns or could believe that an active shooter was firing into a crowd of country music fans simply enjoying their Sunday night.

From there the night is a blur but things that stand out are screams, my hand being grabbed by my friend Aaron, watching people leap over fences, people falling and people crying. By some grace of God (though I am not super religious, it can only be so), I was reunited with almost all of the friends I had attended with and we were all unhurt. But there was no time to rejoice as shots were still being fired every what seemed like 2 minutes and it appeared to be getting closer.

At this point, I can only share my deepest thanks to the men and women who went above and beyond in this time of need. Thank you to the military and first responder fans who broke down fences so others could climb over and drove around looking for wounded. Thank you to the man who broke a window in the corporate building we hid in for hours. Thank you to our families and friends who stayed on the phone with us never letting us lose hope that we could get out safe. Thank you to the boyfriend of a random couple who was also hiding in our building that offered to risk his life to go outside first since he thought he heard help outside. Thank you to UNLV for being our first safe haven away from the chaos. Thank you to our amazing Vegas friends who came and got us in the middle of the night and let us stay at their house while we figured out what to do next. Finally, thank you to our private security friend who drove us to our hotel and the airport at 3 am just to make sure we felt safe before going home.

Now coming to terms with that fact that I am a survivor of the largest mass shooting in our country and that there are more horrendous tragedies going on every day, I feel like I need to give back in some way. To my fellow victims- I will never forget and will always be there for you. We will never be able to get over the trauma but we can absolutely overcome it.

My goal is to raise $2,900 by my 29th birthday on July 21st. I hope you join my fight to advocate for mass shooting victims and say #enoughisenough!
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"The tragedy at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.  On that night, 58 people were killed and well over 500 people were seriously injured.  Countless others among the approximately 22,000 people attending the concert were physically injured in some fashion, have experienced post traumatic stress disorder and other psychological impacts, have been unable to go back to work and are getting behind on bills, or have experienced other undesirable effects associated with this unspeakable violence."

Route91Strong (R91S) is dedicated to helping a different segment of those who experienced the horror the night of October 1st – the survivors of this tragedy who were not shot but who nonetheless are adversely impacted by physical, emotional, or financial distress as a direct result of the attack.  R91S intends to focus its initial efforts on those impacted by the tragedy in Las Vegas, but also intends to ultimately assist those affected by other subsequent tragedies.

I choose to stand strong with survivors of gun violence to raise awareness, funds and to gather resources for all victims, survivors and their families. 

To find out more about this amazing organization, visit https://route91strong.org/ .

#vegasstrong
#lightoverpowersdark