“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” —Fred Rogers
In wake of the terror that unfolded at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday night, stories of love and heroism have been quick to develop across the Internet. It’s stories like the one of two strangers who met just hours before that fateful concert that are restoring everyone’s faith in humanity following Stephen Paddock’s heinous acts of “pure evil.”
In a Facebook Post published by Love What Matters, a young woman writes about the selfless and heroic acts of her new friend, Brendan Kelly.
Facebook
“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.”
The two were dancing near the front of the stage and having a fun night at the music festival when they suddenly heard “loud noises that sounded like fireworks.”
The woman writes that after the first round was shot, there was still no indication of danger and Jason Aldean continued playing. But as everyone now knows, it was not fireworks they were hearing, but gunshots coming from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
She says that when shots were fired a second time, Jason Aldean bolted from 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.”
A U.S. Marine, Brendan exceeded his duty to serve and protect. It’s in his blood to put the lives of others before his own, and on Sunday night, he did just that.
Pulling his new blonde friend up from the piles of people, he helped rush her to safety.
“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.”
When they reached a safe place, Brendan let her use his phone to get in touch with her sister and let her know she was safe.
“The whole night he didn’t leave my side.”
When thanked for taking care of her sister, Brendan simply responded like a true Marine and hero: