The first wave of Saskatonians to return on a direct flight from Las Vegas touched down Monday night at Saskatoon International Airport. Among the passengers were survivors of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Their faces tear-stained as they walked through the gates and you could see the second they locked eyes with their loved ones before rushing to each other for a long embrace.
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Trent Campbell and his wife Sheylee could barely contain themselves as they stepped off the plane and had their three little girls run into their arms.
Clinging to each other, the 34-year-old father said he wasn’t sure if he would see his young daughters or close family ever again.
This, after the couple faced a barrage of bullets less than 24 hours before at a country music concert in Las Vegas.
“It sounded like firecrackers going off and we just stood there not thinking anything of it and by the third or fourth time – we thought OK this is something.”
The Campbells’ magical night, along with 22,000 others, quickly turned into a massacre.
“Four people were carrying out an injured person, somebody was shot and there’s blood everywhere and we’re like – now we’ve got to get out of here.”
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Campbell said they jumped a few fences to get away from the scene.
“It was just unbelievable – we saw people on the side of the street who were shot when we were running out.”
In those moments of terror, Campbell said you don’t think – you just try to survive.
“You just react – OK everyone is running this way let’s go and I hope we don’t get shot as we’re running away,” Campbell said.
“Fortunately we picked the right way to go and a lot of the people that ran towards the strip – a lot of the victims were on that side.”
Over and over the group they were with tried to get into different hotels along the strip but were turned away as each casino went into lockdown prohibiting anyone from coming in or going out.
Campbell said they ran at least six kilometres away from the scene of the shooting and once they were in the clear, the couple called his parents.
“She said right away ‘we’re OK, we’re OK,'” said Ornella Campbell, who picked up the phone at 1 a.m. CT to the sound of her daughter-in-law.
“In the background I could hear screaming. I could hear the sirens and they were walking back to their room.”
It wasn’t until Monday morning that they realized the gravity of the situation when they turned on the news.
“You melt, you lose the feeling in your fingers … that’s your child you know,” Trent’s father Isidore Campbell said.
“I felt ‘what’s this world coming to that people can’t even enjoy a concert anymore.'”
Trent’s parents like many others said they grapple with mixed emotions.
“Grateful, grateful that they’re OK, they’re alive but sad for other people,” Ornella said.
“It’s so senseless, so senseless.”
At least 59 people died Sunday evening, more than 500 others were injured after Stephen Paddock, 64, unleashed round after round upon the crowd below from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
According to U.S. authorities, Paddock killed himself before SWAT teams burst into his hotel room.
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“We still can’t comprehend it, it’s unbelievable, I don’t know how else to describe it,” Campbell said.
Still in shock, the couple says for now they will be staying close to home and don’t know if they’ll ever return to Vegas.
“It really makes you not want to travel or not go anywhere.”