On October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival audience in Las Vegas, Nevada, irrevocably altering hundreds of lives.
The catastrophe claimed the lives of 48 people and injured 851 others. The emotional and psychological effects of the experience will last for a long time.
One of the victims was Jovanna Calzadillas, a 30-year-old mother. When the gunman started fire, she was at the concert with her husband, Francisco ‘Frank’ Calzadillas.
Jovanna was shot in the head and fainted in the midst of the commotion.
Jovanna was brought to the nearest hospital, but physicians were not optimistic about her chances of survival.
With a gunshot wound to the head, she clearly required immediate medical attention. Frank, her husband, was forced to envision life without his wife while she was in serious condition. Things became worse when the doctor told him he had to decide whether or not to «pull the plug» on her.
This nightmarish event had absolutely destroyed Frank.
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.
Jovanna miraculously awoke. The doctors were completely taken aback.
«Her gunshot wound was difficult, but we prayed and hoped, and then she woke up,» says Franck, a Salt River Police Department officer in Arizona.
Jovanna has been struggling to rebuild her life following the Las Vegas massacre for the past four months.
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 impassioned message has now reached the victims of the heinous Las Vegas incident, as well as those around the world who may be living in terror following a tragedy.
«We will not let people like him [the shooter] win,» she said. «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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