SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego survivors of the Route 91 Harvest Festival are headed to Las Vegas to mark the 5th anniversary of the deadly shooting rampage.
It was October 1st of 2017 when a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel onto the crowd of roughly 22,000 enjoying the final act of the three-day music festival.
David and Erin Powell are among the roughly two-hundred local survivors.
"Some thought there were fireworks, some thought the speakers were blown. We weren't sure really what was going on until we started seeing some people lying on the ground," said David Powell.
The Rancho Santa Fe couple hit the floor.
"I pretty much laid on top of Erin there, in the aisle, we waited out the 11 minutes while the shooting was happening," said David.
The gunfire seemed endless.
" It's doo doo doo, doo doo doo, and then there would be a pause and you'd think it's over and then it would start up again doo, doo doo," said David.
The couple prayed until the shooting stopped.
"You're not sure if you're going to just get shot at any moment, it was pretty terrifying," said David.
Ultimately, sixty people died and more than eight hundred were wounded.
Investigators say Stephen Paddock is responsible for the worst mass shooting in modern history. Paddock killed himself as law enforcement converged on his hotel room.
"We were walking by shoes and backpacks and bodies and it was, your mind is just not quite grasping what is going on," said David.
"We were very grateful to get out, and then life changed after that," said Erin.
The months that followed were a struggle.
"You have nightmares, you have panic attacks, you can't make sense of things, your memory isn't working very well," said Erin.
Everyday sounds became triggers.
"It was the jackhammering going on, and I completely lost it. My conscious mind was saying it's down the street, someone is building something, but my unconscious, traumatized mind just went into complete shock and I couldn't breathe and I was down on the ground sobbing and that's when I knew we needed to find someone to help us get through this," said Erin.
They joined a weekly support group that met for a year at the now-closed In Cahoots bar in Mission Valley. Dozens of local survivors were led by Dr. Shiva Ghaed, a clinical psychologist specializing in dealing with PTSD. Ghaed is also a survivor of the massacre in Las Vegas.
"That was super helpful for us, to process, to get back on the horse, to go back to Las Vegas, to go to a concert again," said David.
The couple says helping others is helping them heal. They went through rigorous training to become peer counselors through the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center
"One of the things that we do encourage other survivors to do is get back out there, to not sequester themselves in their home, but to live a full life, to always remember those who didn't make it, can't live the life that we can. Part of our healing is to continue to live and to continue to put ourselves out there and honestly you never know what's going to happen on any given day, but we can't allow the trauma to keep us from living," said Erin.
The couple has been married for thirty-seven years. One of their favorite past times is attending concerts.
Erin said she's more aware of her surroundings and the locations of the nearest exits. She said it took about a year to feel "normal" again.
The couple has a new appreciation of life and each other.
"Now, I think every day is precious and a gift and we really enjoy being with each other and we recognize and honor each other just a little bit more as we go along," said David.
