LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE.

Vegas Shooting Survivor Says Marine She Met At Concert Saved Her Life

October 3, 2017

A young woman who attended the country concert in Las Vegas has shared a heroic story about a Marine who protected her when the shooting began to unfold.

The story is touching the hearts of thousands on social media.

Credit: Jenn and Renee Cesario / Facebook

Renee Cesario says she met Brendan Kelly, an active U.S. Marine, just hours before the concert.

"Brendan and I met only 2 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."

via Love What Matters on Facebook

Renee's older sister Jenn told Fox 46 that they're all still in touch with each other and calls Brendan Kelly the epitome of a hero.

"God was really watching out for my little sister."