October 1 will forever live in our hearts as we all witnessed the horrific events that unfolded at the Route 91 concert. Fifty-eight innocent lives were lost and hundreds of people were injured. My niece Taylor Stovall was attending the concert that night and at 17 years old the last thing on her mind was the events that took place.
When the shooting started Taylor and her friend heard people yell run, run, run and although at first Taylor thought it was fireworks quickly realized something was wrong. Taylor and her friend grabbed each other’s hands and started running. Taylor realized that she no longer was holding her friend’s hand and turned back to find her. At that moment Taylor was shot in her left arm. Within seconds, a young man named Parker saw her and ran up to her and said, “My name is Parker and I’m in the military, do you trust me?”
Taylor, a little stunned and confused, said “yes” and Parker not only compressed her arm to stop the bleeding but also made sure Taylor got to an ambulance. Parker and his wife Sarah were attending the concert and Parker knew immediately what to do when the shooting started. He first made sure his wife Sarah got to safety and then once outside of the venue, Parker made the decision to go back inside and see if he could help anyone else.
Parker was a medic in the military and did in fact become a hero that night by going back in the nightmare to help others.
Days after that horrific event, Savannah Guthrie from the Today show met up with Taylor in the hospital and was moved by her story about a man named Parker who helped her.
Savannah posted this story on social media and to our surprise, Parker’s wife reached out to my family saying “that was my husband”. My niece and her mom (my sister) immediately spoke to Parker and wanted to meet him wherever he would meet.
Parker lives in Tucson and said he did not want to be recognized as a hero and was just doing what the military trained him to do. Parker and his wife also said they probably would never come back to Las Vegas.
As time went on Sarah messaged me on FB and said, “Parker is ready for a reunion”. I was so excited I immediately called my siblings and we wanted to surprise Taylor with a reunion. On May 18, the reunion was finally here and through contributions, our family was able to reunite Parker and Taylor and celebrate a hero.
As I picked up Parker and Taylor at the airport and started taking them to the hotel, I listened to their version of October 1 and realized the effect it had on survivors that may not have been injured physically but emotionally. Sarah told me that she has been in therapy and Parker as well just to cope with crowds and adjusting to a regular normal routine again.
After all, these folks are only 27 years old and have a lot of living still to do. I felt really good that not only are we celebrating a hero, but are helping several people heal. Parker and his wife were treated like heroes should be treated that weekend and when they left, they were emotional but felt this really helped coming back to Las Vegas and knowing it was safe. Parker and Sarah did spend some alone time outside the venue area and reflected their own emotions that most people would not understand. None of us want to ever forget the 58 who died that night.
Our family believes without heroes like Parker, that number would have been higher. Parker and Sarah said it best when they presented Taylor a bracelet that was engraved and read: “Love wins.”
