Las Vegas Mass Shooting Survivor Lacey Newman Recalls Horrifying Details; Advocates Trauma Therapy In First Podcast Interview

This Week On Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend:

Las Vegas Mass Shooting Survivor Lacey Newman Recalls Horrifying Scene at Route 91 Harvest Festival; Discusses Path to Healing and Advocates Therapy

In the first long form podcast conversation with a survivor of the deadly Las Vegas massacre, interviewer Alison Rosen sits down with Orange County resident and music fan Lacey Newman on the Monday (October 23rd) episode of Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend to discuss Lacey’s experience getting shot and escaping the scene of the deadliest mass shooting on US soil at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1.

Some notable details from the interview:

-Lacey felt certain there was only one shooter and knew immediately the shots were coming from the Mandalay Bay rooftop. “The fourth or fifth Jason Aldean song starts and we hear the cracking, or the gun shots. I’ve been around firearms quite a bit, I love to go shooting, and the second I heard it I just grabbed my friend and we dropped… and I knew immediately where it was coming from because I could hear the original shot and I could hear the echo, so I thought it was Mandalay Bay rooftop.” (0:07:13).

-After she heard the second round of gunshots, she told her friend they needed to run and a man in the crowd laughed and told her to calm down. “There was a guy behind us and he was laughing. He’s like, ‘Those aren’t gunshots, calm down.’” (0:8:42)

-It was impossible to find cover. “In my head I’m trying to think, How can we get out of here? How can we get to safety? There’s no cover, really. It’s tents. A tent is not going to keep us safe, so, we just start running away.” (0:09:08)

-She saw people wounded and killed all around her. “I recall seeing people being carried, and it was very obvious that they were not alive anymore.” (1:12:55)

-Lacey didn’t feel pain when she was shot. She dove to the ground several times to avoid gunfire. After she went down the third time she noticed her foot was covered in blood. She scanned her body and noticed what she described as a “volcano of blood” gushing from her calf. “Once I realized I was shot, it was very tunnel-vision. I saw exactly what was right in front of me, but that was it.” (0:12:30).

-Lacey’s friend begged a man with a truck to give them a ride. Once in the truck bed with other concert attendees who were also trying to escape, Lacey’s friend put pressure on Lacey’s gunshot wound and Lacey called her husband. “I was frantic. [I thought], ‘Am I going to die? I don’t know.’ [I just told my husband] ‘I love you, I’ve been shot… I think there’s a sniper on top of Mandalay Bay. [Tell our son] I love him, please take good care of him.’” (0:18:00)

-There’s still shrapnel in Lacey’s leg and it’s infected. She goes to the doctor every day for a wound check and may need surgery.

-She is experiencing symptoms of PTSD, feeling anxiety in public and around tall buildings. “The first thing I think when I get inside anywhere is how do I get out of here if something happens (1:06:57)? Yesterday I was leaving the doctor’s office and across the street they were doing construction, they were jackhammering, and I didn’t expect it, so I walked outside and just wanted to drop to the ground immediately. (1:08:07).”

-Lacey is sharing her story with the hope that more people who’ve experienced trauma will seek help. “I hope that if anyone can get anything out of this, it’s that any kind of trauma, you have to get help. You have to. We are not made to do this. As a mother, I have to be healthy for my son. I have to be healthy for my husband, my siblings, my parents, my co-workers, my friends, and for my community. I have to be a good person. And clearly if other people had mental help, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” (1:17:14)

Listen to the full episode here or download the Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend podcast on iTunes.

Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend Podcast is released on Mondays and Thursdays. Follow Alison Rosen on Twitter and Instagram @AlisonRosen, and Facebook.