Las Vegas shooting survivor who shielded a pregnant concert-goer meets baby she saved
The women reunited at a Las Vegas community healing garden
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Your support makes all the difference.When a shooter opened fire on a Las Vegas music festival on October 1 2017, claiming the lives of 58 people, testimonies of live-saving acts of bravery also emerged amidst the darkness.
Sue Ann Cornwell, a 52-year-old concert-goer who lost a friend that night, was one of the heroes - and has since been able to reunite with the mum and baby whose lives she saved.
When Cornwell saw fellow concert-goer Miriam Lujan was seven months pregnant, she immediately handed over her backpack so Lujan could place it infront of her stomach - and then used her own body to shield Lujan’s.
And with the help of her sister, Cornwell was able to successfully save Lujan and her unborn child that night.
The last the women saw of each other was when they escaped through a fence that had been knocked down.
Although the pair hadn’t exchanged information at the time, as the chaos continued to unfold, Lujan was able to identify the women who saved the lives of her and her son, Xander, on a Facebook group for survivors of the attack.
Wanting to introduce her son to the woman who used her own body to shield his, Lujan reached out to Cornwell about reuniting - and they have, at a Las Vegas Community Healing Garden.
Meeting at the memorial garden for the first time since the night they met, Cornwell brought toys and books for baby Xander, who is now almost four months old, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Of the emotional meeting, Cornwell said: “He’s already part of history, and he doesn’t even know it. Out of all the ugly, here’s this child that survived… One day his mom is going to have a story to tell him.”
And Lujan agreed, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, stating: “I want him to remember the good moments. I want him to remember those people that did not make it and to remember that people will help strangers to survive.
“And if anything were to happen similar to him like that, I hope he would be able to do the same.”
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