When gunfire started flying at concertgoers in Las Vegas on Sunday night, Calgaryās Elaine and Steve Arruda ran for their lives.
They soon came up against a fence and Steve helped lift his wife over it. He says he told her to ājust keep running.ā
Elaine did as told, then looked back into the darkness and realized she couldnāt see Steve. Panicked, she started calling him repeatedly on her phone but only got a busy signal.
She later learned Steve had been shot in the leg, after staying by the fence to help strangers climb over it.
The couple recounted their story to CTV Toronto from a Las Vegas hotel room where Steve is recovering from a wound that severed muscle and left bullet fragments behind.
He said he will never forget turning around after mounting the fence and seeing a woman behind him ājust in sheer terror.ā
āI grabbed her arm ā¦ helped her over and then there was a girl after that ā¦ and another two after that,ā he said.
In total, he helped at least six or seven people get across the fence before he heard a break in the gunfire and decided to run.
Thatās when he was struck in the leg. He dropped to the ground and was able to roll to safety into an area where video recording equipment had been set up for the show.
Eventually he made it into an ambulance filled with several people that he said was driven to a hospital by a person in plain clothes.
Elaine ended up spending the night in a private airport hangar. She said she finally reached her husband briefly over the phone after about 25 tries.
They were reunited the following morning.
Elaine said sheās not surprised by her husbandās actions. āHeās always helping people and putting himself second,ā she said. āIām so thankful that he helped people and heās alive.ā
With a report from CTV Torontoās Tracy Tong
