Police Officer Who Saved Girlfriend In Las Vegas Shooting Leaves Hospital

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Among the faithful lovers who are willing to give their lives for his girlfriend, is Jason McMillan, who in the Las Vegas shooting on October 1, stood in front of his girlfriend to protect her from the massacre that Stephen Paddock was perpetuating at the concert. in which, just a few minutes before, they were both enjoying.

When the sound of music turned to terror, McMillan said he knew immediately that he and his girlfriend, Ella Gaete, had to run to save themselves. “I just saw people get shot and got closer and closer and I knew it was inevitable. It was going to happen,”he told ABC News.

Instead of hiding, McMillan, who works for the Sheriff's office in Southern California but was currently off duty, stood tall to protect Gaete. "I just made sure she was behind me," he said. "I spread my arms as wide as I could to become a bigger target."

Seconds later, McMillan was shot in the chest and became one of the hundreds injured in that attack that killed 58 people.

"He was drenched in blood in a matter of seconds," remembers his girlfriend now, who, despite the chaos, took action to save him and, although she is much smaller than him, dragged him behind the scenes, and helped him take him to a hospital.

"I was saying, 'You're going to be fine [and] just (have to) breathe and we're going to go home after this together," "he said. "And he held on to that."

"I'm glad she found that strong and tenacious spirit she has and [dragged me] out of there," she said. "She is very small. I don't know how he could have done it.”

After the shooting, McMillan received treatment at a Nevada hospital until he was cured enough to see the rehabilitation specialists at Craig Hospital in Colorado. She spent the past month recovering at Craig, which specializes in treating patients with spinal cord injuries.

Yesterday, when he was finally released, other officers from the Douglas County Sheriff's Department lined up to greet him for what he is: a hero in modern times.

Doctors told him he still has a chance to walk again. But the road to achieve it is long and hard. In the meantime, you need a specialized wheelchair. In order to buy it, he and his girlfriend opened a page on GoFundMe. "I still have a lot of life to do," said the optimistic McMillan. "And if I'm in a chair, so be it."