Their hearts gave us hope

As the estimated number of victims went from at least two dead and 24 injured, then to 20 dead and 100 injured, then to 50 dead and 200 injured, it seemed like each new detail emerging from the festival site was another step into darkness, sorrow and inhumanity.

But then came rays of light, inspiration and hope, in the form of reports about selfless acts of concertgoers.

As gunfire rained down and chaos erupted at the concert, there were numerous stories of people leading others to safety, using their bodies to shield fellow concertgoers from bullets and risking their own lives to provide care and comfort for the wounded.

They were people like Brian Feliz, an off-duty Henderson firefighter and paramedic who helped tear down a fence, and U.S. Marine veteran Taylor Winston, who commandeered an empty pickup truck to drive 20 to 30 victims to the hospital.

In many cases, their actions saved lives. Health care providers would later describe treating victims who likely would have bled to death if a bystander hadn’t applied pressure to their wounds or aided them with makeshift tourniquets fashioned from belts and clothing.

And after concertgoers flooded out, good Samaritans in Las Vegas swept in to help. They would turn out throughout the night at the Thomas & Mack Center, the temporary shelter for concertgoers, with blankets, food, bottled water and more. In the days following the shooting, they would stand in hours-long lines to donate blood. When the victims fund opened, they poured in donations.

How many people helped others throughout the ordeal? It’s impossible to tell. Many, many thousands.

After enduring a night of the blackest evil, we salute all of those who reminded us that there are angels among us.