#VEGAS STRONG

I’m still wearing a yellow rubber wristband that says ‘unconditional love’ www.faceofcrisis.org. It was given to me by a woman at the memorial for the fifty-eight people who were killed at the music concert in Las Vegas. After a night of buffalo wings and margaritas we had wandered down from the madness that is the Vegas strip; the flashing neon lights, cocktails, and girls in non-existent dresses, drunks and the homeless, that four-mile road that takes opulence and extravagance to an extreme. But in the shadow of the Mandalay hotel under the quiesential Las Vegas sign, there were fiftyeight crosses and thousands of flowers. Fifty-eight dead, hundreds more wounded, many still more still in critical care and there in the twilight of the city that never sleeps, fifty-eight people were being mourned. There were people crying, hugging, praying, lighting candles but mostly just walking around in a daze, trying to come to terms with an unrealistic acceptance of what had happened, that a man had carried forty-seven weapons to the thirty second floor of the Mandalay hotel and randomly opened fire on a crowd of 20,000 people at a packed music concert. A concert that we would surely have been had we been there the week before. I wasn’t comfortable as I looked at Steve Berger’s picture, taped to the white cross; a father of three, a cross piled with flowers and hand-written notes expressing loss. As I knelt reading the notes of sympathy I still did not know how to process the feelings, these were not my people, this was not my country, but I was still struggling with the internal torment of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’. A wet nose nudged then under my arm, alarmed I looked around into two big brown eyes and a face that offered nothing but comfort. I patted and hugged the big Labrador like a long-lost friend, and he in turn greeted me as one. It was only after a while did I realise he had a coat on and his owner smiled as I looked up her – she handed me the yellow bracelets that says ‘unconditional love www. faceofcrisis.org and she simple whispered ‘ we find the dogs help people deal with the grief’ and she was right, they did. And as I looked around there were a dozen or so of these dogs amongst the crowd all being patted, hugged and loved … And loving in return… unconditionally. Why did he do it? Was it an act of terrorism by a man radicalised by ISIS in a mere six month period, or a man unbalanced looking for any reason or cause to commit the unspeakable. Whatever the reason the reality is it was lost on those standing at dusk, in silence, whispering, staring at crosses. To be honest I am not sure if it was showing respect or simply acknowledging that a travesty had happened, that by us just being there somehow slowed their needless loss from drifting off into the neon night. I wasn’t sure why I was there; we had not gone out of curiosity - but somehow wanting to express an acknowledgement of what seemed to be missing. We had been photographing the National Parks on the way to Vegas as this shooting unfolded and what was remarkable was we found out not from local newspapers or radio or people we met, we found out only by those calling from home making sure we were ok. We had a night of holding on to the ‘Shit handle’ that’s that big handle cars have so when the driver goes around a corner too fast or goes too fast you grab the ‘shit handle’ – we had a night like that yet we decided to still include Vegas as part of this trip for no other reason than if we cancelled or diverted, those creating terror, for whatever reason, win, we didn’t consider it brave or courageous it’s simple something we chose to do. Yet even in Vegas, even though the shooting was just a mere week before, life seemed to be back to normal, the lights still filled the night sky, the cocktails still flowed, the drunks still stumbled down the street. Sure there were neon banners mourning the loss, offering help and solace to the families of those killed and those that survived but all in all it was like nothing happened. It was not until we took in a Lakers basketball game (the arena is not far from where the shooting occurred) and it would have been the next big compact crowd of people in Vegas since the shooting, did the situation come into focus. As you arrived you were handed a t-shirt emblazoned with #VegasStrong and before the game the legendary Magic Johnson (now Lakers team manager) spoke of those who had lost their lives and the impact it had on at the community and he acknowledged the courage of those that refused to be cowered by threat of more violence and had come out in support of not only the game but also for Las Vegas community itself. A nice touch was that all the proceeds from the game went to the families of the shooting. I didn’t feel threatened at any stage, I was surprised at the level of police presence and more surprised that people went up and thanked the police for being there, the only time I felt uneasy was as the crowd left the game and in the twilight you could still see the golden facade of the Mandalay in the background. I wasn’t the only person looking up. And now back in New Zealand you realise the overwhelming feeling of safety and community we have here. That knowledge that although we live in a troubled world those troubles at this stage are still far from our door. How does all this relate to the Adventure Magazine editorial ? It’s something I have said more than once, live everyday as if it is your last because one day, accident or not, it will be. Appreciate all that we have and enjoy it for as long as you can. Make your life a great adventure. #VegasStrong