The Lake Country man who was shot when a gunman opened fired in Las Vegas realizes how close he was to dying and is thankful for strangers who risked their lives for his.
鈥�(Amanda Homulos) and I were attending the Route 91 festival, as we heard what we thought were fire crackers going off. People started ducking and running,鈥� Braden Matejka said in a Facebook post, written Monday night.
鈥淚 said 鈥榙on鈥檛 worry babe, no one鈥檚 shooting at us,鈥� as the gunman ran out of shells in his first round he started to open up again.鈥�
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In front of him, someone get shot through the chest, and he grabbed his girlfriend Amanda and told her to get down and they ran to a tent
鈥淲e kept running to a tent, where there were numerous people inside ducking for cover. As the gunman started peppering the tent we grabbed tables and flipped them over. When the bullets didn鈥檛 stop coming down on us and hitting the tables it was time to make a run for it.鈥�
That鈥檚 when things took a turn for the worse. They started running again, and their effort was cut short.
鈥淚t felt as if someone hit me with a sledge hammer in the back of the head. I got up and yelled for Amanda, saying 鈥業鈥檝e been shot,鈥欌�� he said.
The whole back of his shirt was covered in blood that was spurting from the gunshot wound.
鈥淲e started running holding my head, dizzy and rattled I wasn鈥檛 sure where to go,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got to cover again and 鈥� these four random people helped save me.鈥�
One man took off his shirt and tied it around Matejka鈥檚 skull while another waved down a car.
鈥淭he police had no idea what to do at the time so this kind young lady drove like a bat out of hell to the closest hospital 鈥� then I was rushed into the Operating Room and had my skull looked at,鈥� he wrote.
鈥淭hey are keeping me till tomorrow or the next day to make sure that my brain has stopped bleeding. To say the least this was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced. My deepest condolences to the many people that didn鈥檛 make it. Seeing so many people getting brought to the hospital, passing away beside me. Watching people being hunted down like cats. It sickens me.鈥�
Matejka said he was thankful for every one of his friends and family members who have shown him so much love and compassion.
Braden, who is a heavy duty mechanic at Vernon鈥檚 Great West Equipment, could be in hospital for the next several days and his parents are travelling to Las Vegas to be with him.
The lone shooter killed at least 59 people and injured more than 500.
