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A survivor of the Las Vegas festival shooting is telling the story of how a Marine she had only just met shielded her from gunfire and stayed by her side all night.
Renee Cesario, 23, is hailing 21-year-old Brendan Kelly as a hero for saving her life during the worst mass shooting in U.S. history at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
The couple had only met two hours before gunshots began to ring out. Cesario said Kelly immediately tackled her to the ground and then 'pulled my arm up to get me out of the piles of people. We had no idea who was dead or who was alive. We just started to run.'
Cesario took to Facebook to share what happened Sunday evening:
“Brendan and I met only two hours before the Jason Aldean show. I left my friends so we could go up super close to the front for the end of the night. We were just dancing and having fun and then all of the sudden there were loud noises that sounded like fireworks, but no lights were going off.”
“It stopped, and Jason Aldean kept playing but then the shots fired again and he ran off the stage. Before I knew what was going on, Brendan tackled me down to the ground and covered me from the fire.”
“It stopped again and he looked around to see what was happening and then it just kept going. He looked at me and said 'We have to get out of here. We can't stay here. It's not safe.
'Then he pulled my arm up to get me out of the piles of people. We had no idea who was dead or who was alive. We just started to run. He kept telling me it was going to be okay and to keep running until we were safe.”
“He even let me use his phone to stay in touch with my sister so she knew I was safe, which is the text you'll see. The whole night he didn't leave my side.”
Renee’s sister, Jenn Cesario, messaged Kelly later to say ‘thank you.’
“Absolutely, that's what we do, take care of our own and those around us,” Kelly replied. “Glad I could be there for her in that crazy time.”
Kelly’s friend and fellow Marine Chance Wilk commented on the kind of person Kelly is.
“He's not that type of Marine... he doesn't seek attention, recognition, or fame. He does it because he's a genuinely good guy and American hero,” he said, according to CBS.
SOURCE: Daily Mail