Alan Nápoli
05/24/2020 - 11:50
- Clarín.com
- Dresses
“ Route 91 Harvest ”, can be read on the electronic poster at the bottom of the image. There is a crowded crowd, an indication that this is a scene that predates the already mentioned coronavirus pandemic countless times. Two people, who have just met , absorb the camera flash: Chantal Melanson and Austin Monfort . They are smiling, not imagining that in a short time they would experience a terrifying and surreal moment from which they would escape together .
The story began on Saturday, September 30, 2017 in the City of Sin . Chantal, now 29 , traveled from his native Canada to Las Vegas to enjoy a three-day country festival. Back then, she was at Gilley's Saloon bar with her friends when Austin, from California, first saw her .
" I found it very attractive, " the 24-year-old told Clarín . Without much thought, she took courage and decided to go talk to him. When he got close, Chantal "challenged" him for not wearing cowboy boots in a context like that. "He made me 'chase' her around the bar to get her attention. So she made me even more interested in her, " he clarified to Clarín .
Sin City. Chantal traveled to Las Vegas for a country festival. (Photo: Jean Beaufort / Public domain).
It looked like Austin wasn't going to be lucky. However, he tried again, invited her to dance and Chantal said yes: in the end, they had fun all night to the rhythm of the music. "Back then I thought he was very nice , cute and tall . We talked as if we had known each other for life, " the Canadian told Clarín.
Several hours later, on October 1, they arranged to meet on what would be the last day of the Route 91 Harvest festival . There they chatted, laughed and danced again while artist Jason Aldean animated the show . At 10:05 PM , both believed that the sudden rumbling they heard was due to fireworks. But the truth was cruel: they were shots .
Aerial shot. The moment of the attack, when the public runs desperate. (File photo: EFE / EIKI HRAFNSSON).
From the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, American Stephen Craig Paddock made multiple shots with weapons of caliber in the direction of the crowd of 22,000 people who enjoyed the show . "Soon we were lying on the ground and we felt that the bullets were coming from all directions," Chantal said.
Within seconds, Austin took Chantal's hand and guided it through the chaos. " He never left my side that night . Holding on, we ran like complete strangers throughout the festival groundstrying to escape the shots, " recalled the young woman. They came to a taxi and shared it with a woman who had been shot in the leg and stomach ." We went to the hospital and we stayed there until morning, "he said.
Tribute. 58 people were killed and more than 800 were injured. (File photo: Vegas, Nevada, US, October 3, 2017. REUTERS / Chris Wattie).
That night it was known as the Las Vegas Massacre or Las Vegas Shooting. Paddock killed to 58 people , he left a balance of more than 800 wounded and then killed himself . According to the latest official information from the FBI, the reasons for his actions are still unknown .
- It was a very stressful event that you and your family lived. Do you still think about the massacre?
"I think we both agree that the entire night was surreal." When you go through something so traumatic you do not have time to process it, I would say that it took us a few days to 'digest' everything. Yes, sometimes we think about it, especially when there are other shootings, it comes to mind how many people, family, friends will be affected by it.
—Austin, when the shooting started, you stayed with a person you barely knew and never left her alone. It is not easy to remain calm in this situation ... - It
never crossed my mind to leave her. We were at the festival together and we were going out together. Keeping Chantal calm somehow kept me calm because I didn't have time to worry about myself. I just wanted the two of us to go out.
From tragedy to love
Their lives were separated the night after the Massacre: Austin flew to San Diegoand Chantal returned to the Canadian city of Alberta. Until then they were just friends . AND,Although they were thousands of miles apart, they were still connected and chatted frequently. Little by little they fell in love.
Couple. They were civilly married on March 8, 2019. And they plan to do the wedding in Las Vegas. (Photo: @tragedytolove).
They traveled several times to meet again . And one day they decided to live together : the chosen city was San Diego. On March 8, 2019, Austin proposed to her on a beach in Laguna Beach . The young man, this time in cowboy boots , knelt down and showed the ring to Chantal, who could not contain the emotion. The couple married civilly in November 2019. And they planned to do the wedding in Las Vegas on May 8, but had to postpone it on COVID-19 .
See this post on Instagram
Make the best of every situation 💕 May 8th should have been our wedding day👰🏻🤵🏻. Instead we had a perfect dinner date in our backyard. . ⬅️ swipe left. We accidentally surprised each other, while I was in the backyard decorating he left work a few hours earlier to surprise me.🌹
A shared publication of 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏 & 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 | love blog (@tragedytolove) on May 14, 2020 at 5:44 PDT
Austin and Chantal have an Instagram account (@tragedytolove), where they show their adventures and also a YouTube channel (TheMonforts), which premiered in the last hours.
- Various American and British media titled : " A woman married the man who saved her life ...". Chantal, do you think Austin saved your life?
"Yes, I think we saved each other in many ways." Who knows which direction he would have run if he had not been with Austin that night. Who knows where we would have been at the festival. There is a lot of "what would have happened if".