On October 1, 2017, a perpetrator commenced gunfire on the audience during the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, altering thousands of lives forever.
The incident resulted in the death of 48 individuals and 851 were injured. The emotional and psychological impact of the event will persist for a significant amount of time.
Jovanna Calzadillas, a 30-year-old mother, was one of the victims. She was attending the concert with her husband Francisco ‘Frank’ Calzadillas when the gunman opened fire.
Amidst the chaos, Jovanna sustained a gunshot wound to the head and collapsed.
Jovanna was taken to the nearest hospital, but the doctors had little hope of her chances of survival.
With a gunshot wound to the head, she obviously needed emergency treatment. While she was in critical condition, her husband Frank was forced to imagine life without his wife. And things got worse when the doctor informed him that he had to decide whether to “pull the plug” on her.
Frank was completely devastated by this nightmare situation.
But one night, everything changed. He had a dream. In it, his wife approached him, and whispered, “everything will be all right.”
When Franck woke up, his mind was made up: he refused to take Jovanna off the respirator. He would never abandon his wife.
Miraculously, Jovanna woke up. The doctors were extremely surprised.
“Her gunshot wound was difficult, but we prayed and hoped and then she woke up,” says Franck, who is a police officer with the Salt River Police Department in Arizona.
For the past four months, Jovanna has struggled to put her life back together after the Las Vegas massacre.
Progress was slow and often frustrating, but Jovanna was determined to improve, not just for herself, but for her family too.
Since waking up, Jovanna has shared her incredible story.
While confronting the demons of the past is never easy, she continues to speak openly about her feelings and her progress in getting her life back to normal.
“A part of me disappeared on the night of October 1,” she says. “Even though I won’t be the old Jovanna anymore, I’ll come back stronger.”
“I’ll fight for them,” Jovanna adds, referring to her family. “And I won’t stop believing in myself.”
Her powerful message now reaches the victims of the horrific Las Vegas attack, as well as others around the world who might live in fear after tragedy.
“We will not let people like him [the shooter] win,” she says. “And we won’t live in fear.”
Watch this report about Jovanna’s amazing story:
That Jovanna is speaking out in public while still on the road to recovery shows just how courageous she is. Her words help other victims and help them return to their routine lives after the devastating attack.
We must continue to fight for what is right and what we believe in, no matter what obstacles stand in our way.
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