Calgary man injured in Las Vegas shooting speaks about Florida school massacre

As we learn more about the latest mass shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead, some of the details may seem uncomfortably familiar.

An American lone shooter firing into the crowd, with an AR-15 rifle.

It wasn't that long ago — just over four months, in fact — that a mass shooting happened in Las Vegas at the Route 91 country music festival, where a lone shooter killed 58 people.

• 'We saw people fall': Las Vegas gunman kills dozens of concertgoers at festival 
• One Calgarian's harrowing tale of heroism, injury and survival in Vegas

More than 800 were also injured, including Calgarian Steve Arruda, who was shot in the leg.

Arruda spoke to the Calgary Eyeopener on Friday about his recovery and what it was like for him to hear about a similar incident unfolding.

Below is an abridged version of that conversation.

Q: How are you doing these days?

A: I'm doing OK, I have some nerve damage in my foot so it's still a long road to recovery.

Q: Can you remind us what happened with your injury?

A: I sustained a gunshot wound to the rear left leg. It pretty much went through my upper hamstring and the bullet hit the sciatic nerve. There's two other nerves, the tibial nerve and the perineal nerve that run down your leg, so the one issue I'm having is the perineal nerve, which controls your foot to lift up. I can't lift my foot up and it's causing some numbness on the top and side of my foot. I can't walk without my brace, I'm lucky to have that, and if I don't have it, I have to scoot around on my crutches.

Q: You're still dealing with the fallout. What goes through your mind when you hear about another shooting in the United States?

A: It's crazy. Your heart goes out to all the families affected by this, and it does hit close to home because I was a victim. It's such a tragedy ... it was in a school, it was mostly teenagers who were killed. These people had the rest of their lives to look forward to and that was taken away by a 19-year-old shooter. It's just a tragedy.

Q: Does it make you angry?

A: It does a bit but ... it's too far past the point of even controlling gun laws in the U.S. because there are so many guns available to the public. It's a pretty crazy situation.

Q: The AR-15 was used in both shootings. How do you feel when you see the similarities, that the same kind of weapon was used?

A: What are these guns used for? They're killing machines. These aren't hunting rifles, they're not used for sport. These are essentially used in war to kill people. Apparently it's cheaper to purchase an AR-15 than it is a handgun, so that just goes to show you how available they are and how acceptable they are. It's something that is hard to fathom as a Canadian.

Q: As someone who has been through this and survived, what do you think the following days and weeks are going to be like for the victims of this event, and their families?

A: Just like at the Route 91 Festival, there was a lot of young people, late teenagers and early 20s. These children, that are in their mid-teenage years, that's pretty shocking. For myself, the few days right after, you have nightmares, you dwell on it and think, 'why me' sort of thing. There's always people to talk to, a counsellor, someone who is completely neutral. If you talk to someone who doesn't know you and this is their job, to help you through situations like this, and they're trained to do it, that's always a big help.

Q: Can I ask, have you accessed help, have you gone to therapy or group counselling? How are you doing mentally?

A: I'm doing fine, mentally. Through Alberta Health Services, they offer counselling at an office near my home, so I went there. I had a one-on-one session … you sort of get everything off your chest. They talk to you about coping mechanisms, it's really helpful I find. It's just tough because there's so many ways to access information, you have the internet and the news, there's all these little triggers around you to bring it up. You don't want to dwell on it too much because you get in the wrong mindset.

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener