Vegas Survivor Speaks out After Being Shot in the Back

Savanna Chasco and her friends had decided months ago to head to Las Vegas last weekend for the Route 91 Harvest music festival. On Sunday night, the 20-year-old became one of the over 500 people wounded in a mass shooting during Jason Aldean’s performance.

Chasco told ABC News that at first, people thought the gunfire was just spotty noise coming from the speakers. After the second round of shots, they started running. When they heard gunfire again, Chasco got shot in the back and fell to the ground. Her friends pulled her to a fence, and they kept running.

“Then we ran into MGM [Hotel] and we heard more rounds inside so we ran back out,” she said. “During this time, I was on the phone with my parents, just telling them what was going on, making sure they were OK so they weren’t worrying or anything.”

Chasco ran into an EMT who told her everything would be okay, and she was later transported to the hospital. She said she rode in a gurney with a husband and wife who had been shot and another person who didn’t make it.

“I ended up being in the hospital for four or five hours and I was … very fortunate,” Chasco said, noting that she still has the bullet in her back.

While she was in the hospital, she tried to remain calm and stay clearheaded.

“I remember the first nurse who I saw, she was very nervous, and so I asked her, ‘How are you doing tonight? Did you just come in?’” she recalled. “I just wanted to kind of keep a regular conversation going among all of the craziness around us.”

Chasco’s parents drove from their home in California to be with her, making the normally 10-hour drive in seven hours. The boyfriend of a friend Chasco attended the concert with was killed in the attack.

“I’m a very strong believer that everything happens for a reason,” Chasco said. “I know there’s not much of a reason that something like this could have happened but you could always find something to hold onto, at least one positive aspect in this.”

She added, “I just keep holding onto the fact that I do have a bullet in my back still but I’m walking and I’m talking and that’s obviously something that I’m so grateful for right now.”

Photo Credit: ABC News