Sunrise Hospital first responders remember Route 91 shooting
Dozens of first responders held hands and bowed their heads in front of an ambulance bay Thursday to remember the victims and survivors of the Route 91 shooting three years ago.
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center remembered the 60 lives lost with candles and a 60-second moment of silence. But the moment that brought many people to tears was a letter the hospital received Thursday that was written by a survivor named Brenda. It was read out loud by Sunrise CEO Todd Sklamberg.
“Three years ago on this very day I arrived at your emergency room just before 10:30 p.m., broken, bloody and barely alive. I had no ID; I was labeled ‘trauma Brenda,’ ” the letter read.
Brenda’s letter said she was a teacher in Las Vegas who came to the hospital with gunshot wounds in her back, jaw and left hand. She spent 19 days at Sunrise and distinctly remembers the nurses, interns and surgeons who took care of her. After being discharged from the hospital, she began volunteering and speaking publicly about the shooting as a motivator.
“I’m a wife who can kiss my husband and feel his touch on my shattered face. I’m a mom who is finally able to sing to my kids until bedtime,” she said. “I’m a woman no longer broken and bruised, who is still moving forward each and every day.”
Sunrise Hospital treated 240 patients the night of the shooting, taking on more gunshot victims at one time than any hospital in national history, Sklamberg said.
Lois, a therapy dog, sat patiently by waiting for first responders who may need her. Many remembered that after the shooting nine therapy dogs were flown in from across the country for staff and patients.
People were welcome to paint rocks for the rock garden at the hospital, and two survivors presented a rock memorializing the 22,000 concertgoers from that night. Written on the rock: “Together we heal but we will never forget.”
One of the survivors, Tracy Szymanski, serves as director of patient transport and support services at the hospital. She’s worked for the hospital for 15 years and remembers witnessing the shooting firsthand. Her husband had to pull her from the venue because she wanted to help the wounded but wasn’t a nurse.
“I still wanted to try to help, so when we hit the street I called the administrator on call and said, ‘I’m at the concert and we’re going to get hit really hard,’ ” she said. “I started fixing up our auditorium to receive family members. I provided clean clothes, blankets, phone chargers … Everybody was so scared and waiting to hear about their loved ones.”
Szymanski left the hospital at 8:30 a.m. when the medical director warned that family members of the victims were arriving. She said Sunrise received 16 patients who were already deceased before they arrived at the hospital.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
