'You get re-traumatized every time,' survivor of Las Vegas shooting says of area mass shootings

Hearing about the two mass shootings in Dayton this week and remembering the Oregon District mass shooting brings difficult memories for Chris Williford, who works as a nurse in the Miami Valley.

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“It kind of feels a little bit like you get re-traumatized every time,” she said Wednesday.

She was referring to what happened at the 2017 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas. As reported on News Center 7 at 11, Williford was there when Stephen Paddock opened fire on thousands of people as Jason Aldean was performing on stage during Day 3 of the concert.

Williford had gone there with a friend to watch their favorite artists perform.

“I grabbed her [the friend] and I kind of, I kind of spider . . . and I just covered her up,” Williford recalled. Her friend jumped a fence to escape during one of the eerie periods when the gunfire stopped. Williford stayed behind.

“I turned around,” she said. “I’m like ‘I need to help these people.’ ”

She recalled helping other responders put people in truck beds, in the back seats of Lyfts, Ubers, people’s personal vehicles, “in whatever capacity we can. You know we . . . had a whole truck bed full of people that would . . . hold as many people as we can get in there safely.”

At one point, Williford removed her belt to use as a tourniquet on a woman’s leg. Another nurse at the concert asked her to help a young boy.

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Williford put pressure on the boy’s stomach wound and rode with him to a hospital.

“That’s actually how I ended up leaving the venue was in a personal vehicle with him,” she said.

She never saw the child again.

“I can’t, I don’t remember his face. But when they released the names and the faces of the 58 [victims] and I knew. I don’t know why, but I knew I didn’t see his face in there,” she said.

Williford said her hope and prayer is that he’s “doing wonderful somewhere because I remember him telling me he was young. He was talking to me about his girlfriend and that’s kind of all I remember.”

Williford returned to Vegas years later and married her wife, Amy.

Why Vegas? Williford said she wanted to change how she felt about the city and build a happy memory there.

Williford also told News Center 7 she wanted to tell her story to spread awareness about mental health resources. If you or someone you know is in need of help, contact dial 988 or reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Ohio.

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