Las Vegas shooting victim: Rylie Golgart, 18, Henderson
Rylie Golgart used a wheelchair to get around the hospital on Wednesday.
It’s one small improvement she’s been able to make since being shot in her lower back on Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
“It was a better day for her,” said her aunt, Christina DeLessio-Sapone. “I think Rylie wants people to know her story from the side of a survivor, and not the point of a victim.”
DeLessio-Sapone said Golgart hopes her story of survival will boost the spirits of the community.
“Rylie wants to be a light for people in this horrible situation,” she said. “In this evil time, she wants to show there’s still good in the world.”
Golgart, 18, of Henderson, was at the concert with her family and friends when a bullet entered her lower back, fragmenting in one of her vertebrae.
Golgart’s father and an off-duty Clark County firefighter were able to get her on a backboard, into her father’s truck and to a hospital.
The Nevada State College freshman underwent emergency surgery, but the road to recovery will extend for months. Golgart’s family is consulting top surgeons around the country about next steps.
“She’s made small improvements each day,” DeLessio-Sapone said.
DeLessio-Sapone started a GoFundMe account to help cover Golgart’s mounting medical bills. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, more than $54,000 had been raised.
“… I wish the very best to Rylie and her family as she begins on the road to recovery,” Nevada State President Bart Patterson said in a letter to the campus community on Wednesday, encouraging the community to make donations to Golgart.
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
