Good Samaritan Reunites Mom With Child After Separation During Route 91 Shooting
It's every mother's nightmare, and it came true for one mom on the night of Oct. 1 in Las Vegas: During Jason Aldean's set at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, Doris Huser took a trip to the bathroom with her daughter, leaving her 5-year-old son Aden with his aunt to enjoy the music.
While she was in the bathroom, chaos ensued as a shooter on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel opened fire on the crowd. In the resulting melee, Aden was separated from his aunt — and his mother and sister had no idea where he was.
"I lost her and I was sad because it was just me and my aunt and I didn't know where my sister was, so I didn't know where to run," the little boy tells KNTV.
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Luckily, Aden was spotted by fellow concert-goer Lindsey Rogers, who saw him standing alone. Rogers told KNTV she just did what anyone would have done — she ran over to help the child.
"He was really brave and really good," Rogers says. "He didn't cry or anything. I think he was just confused."
"I was nervous to take him because I knew that his mom would be devastated to find that her child was gone, but in the moment we thought that the best decision was to get as many people as safe as possible. The shots were so sporadic and it wasn’t stopping so we took a chance."
Teamwork ensued: One of Rogers' friends took a picture of Aden and posted it on social media. Rogers then took the boy to a local medical center, where his grandparents were able to pick him up.
Finally, his mom was able to reunite with her child. As any parent can imagine, the reunion was highly emotional.
"All I remember is seeing my son come out of the garage door, and I dropped to my knees," Doris says. "He ran as hard as he could to me and we were like one for a second. He just held on to me so tight."
Police would later confirm that at least 59 people were killed and 527 injured, resulting in the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.
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