Las Vegas shooting heroes: A dad takes a bullet in the neck while helping, a couple steals a truck to save lives, a man dies shielding his wife

The heroes worked to save lives and protect others while gunshots rained down from above

Just over a day after the shooting in Las Vegas, stories of heroes have emerged (Reuters/Chris Wattie)

When gunfire began to rain down on country music lovers in Las Vegas this weekend, two friends tore down a fence to help people flee the attack before leaving to see if they could help find a way to bring the wounded to the hospital. Former marine Taylor Winston and Jenn Lewis eventually found a truck that was unattended, and decided to grab it.

“Jenn and I luckily found a truck with keys in it and started transporting priority victims to the hospital, and made a couple trips, and tried to help out the best we could until more ambulances could arrive,” Mr Winston later told the Daily Beast. The two were able to transport about two dozen people to the hospital.

In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in American history, numerous accounts of heroism like that have emerged. Concert-goers from all over the country reacted to the terror with bravery, saving numerous lives while a man armed with dozens of rifles shot at them from his perch on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino.

After the shooting began, Sonny Melton shielded his wife Heather, and paid for it with his life.

“He saved my life. He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back,” Ms Melton, who was in town with her husband from Tennessee, said. “I want everyone to know what a kind-hearted, loving man he was, but at this point, I can barely breathe.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Smith risked his life to try and save others as well.

The 30-year-old is said to have saved as many as 30 people, before he spotted a few young girls exposed to the gunfire, and urged them to get to the ground. While doing so, he was shot in the neck.

“I couldn’t feel anything in my neck. There was a warm sensation in my arm,” Mr Smith told The Washington Post afterward while being treated at Sunrise Hospital.

He may live with the bullet lodged in his neck for the rest of his life.

Kurt Fowler, an off-duty Arizona firefighter took a bullet while protecting his wife, Trina, from gunfire. While laying on top of her to act as a human shield, Mr Fowler was hit in the leg by a bullet. He was later rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery, which was successful.

Mike Cronk, who was in town to celebrate his 48th birthday, risked getting shot to save his friend, Ron. After Ron was hit three times in the chest, Mr Cronk tore his shirt off to stave off the bleeding, and slid him underneath the concert stage for protection from the gunfire. A woman came over to help compress the wound.

Mr Cronk and the woman eventually moved Ron to one of the many pickup trucks that were acting as make-shift ambulances to help bring people to get medical care. Three others were already in that truck, one of whom later died.

“I’m no hero,” Mr Cronk later. “But there’s a lot of heroes out there.”

For some of the heroes, their paths crossed on that night of terror.

Kelly Presten McCurdy, a Los Angeles fire captain, carried his sister-in-law, Jessi Preston back to their room in the Mandalay Bay hotel, before returning to see if he could help anybody else, according to Mike Brown, his cousin.

Mr Brown would later encountered an off-duty Nevada firefighter, Steve Keys, not too far away who shot while performing CPR. Mr Keys had been grazed by a bullet, leaving a wound that extended from his chest to his stomach.

“He said, “Yeah, I got shot,” Mr Brown said. “He lifts his shirt up. He was shot in the chest. He said, ‘I’ll be fine.’”