LAS VEGAS, NEVADA.- Edgar Bibiano was born in Chilpancingo, Guerrero in Mexico. He came with his parents and twin brother to Oakland, California just a few days shy of his third birthday. Seven years later they moved to Las Vegas in search of better opportunities. His brother died when he was 11 years old.

Life would challenge Edgar regularly. The same day of his Prom, when he was nearly finished with high school, his father told them he had lost his job. Edgar put his studies aside and started working two part-time jobs to support the family.

Two years later he was able to study Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN). Under this career, he would provide emergency care for people in critical condition, on the scene and on their way to the hospital by ambulance.

He works for Community Ambulance, an ambulance service that introduced him to the world of emergencies of 911. It was this work along with fate that put him in the middle of the largest mass shooting in the history of the United States. It happened October 1, 2017, during a country music concert in Las Vegas. It was there the young “dreamer” helped save lives.

“It was a normal day patrolling the streets, everything was calm” he recalls. “Suddenly, my partner and I heard on the radio our supervisor calling to help three people injured. He sounded a bit upset and we did not know what was happening just about 3 miles from where we were.”

“A few seconds later the call was to help 7 critically ill patients and almost immediately the number was already 20 wounded patients who needed to be rushed to the hospital,” Edgar said.

They would soon realize the magnitude of what happened. “We were the third ambulance to arrive at the country music concert and by then the call on our radio was to help 40 critically ill patients with gunshot wounds.”

“We were told we were going to be escorted by police officers for protection. That was something very unusual,” Edgar said, who at 21 was facing an emergency call he never imagined he’d receive. “We saw there were about a block and a half of about 60 people injured on either side of the street. It was something you only see in movies, but this time it was real.”

This “dreamer” remembers they helped a patient with multiple injuries into the ambulance. As they tried to get out of there, other people were hitting the windows of the ambulance and pleading for help. “It was a very difficult situation,” Edgar said.

“My partner and I just looked at each other without really knowing what to do because every ambulance typically takes a single patient,” he said.

That’s when a policeman, armed with a gun and bulletproof vest told them to gather up everyone they could. The officer said he would get them out of there because there was an active shooter in the area.

Edgar and his partnered rushed to help the most critically wounded.

“I remember two girls got shot in the neck, another in the back, possibly damaged to their lungs and a third patient had three bullet wounds in his abdomen,” he said.

Edgar said every patient was put on oxygen and they took off for Sunrise Hospital (about 7 miles). “I had never driven so fast in my life,” he said.

Along the way, Edgar saw a pick-up truck with more people wounded in the bed of the truck. He realized they were wounded in the shooting and were being taken to the hospital by a good samaritan. He told the driver to follow him, as he would clear the way for them with the sirens. They arrived at the hospital with nine critically injured patients. Stretchers were waiting for them as they arrived.

They returned to the concert and picked up three more critically wounded patients.

It wasn’t until the next day that Edgar Bibiano reacted to the magnitude of the tragedy in which he saved multiple lives. The news headlines read, “Massacre in Las Vegas”. Then, as the hours passed he would break down as the images of what went he through played in his mind. His employer has worked with him to help battle the anxiety and depression.

“When I saw the pictures on the news I could not stop crying and it was because I was reacting to the moments I lived,” Edgar said. “Then I began to reflect on the many families who in a moment no longer had their fathers or brothers, or their children or their partners with them.”

Edgar said he could not stop thinking about his nephews who are like his little brothers and that something could have happened to him and he’d no longer be there with them or with his parents.

This also affected Edgar’s mother. “Every day I go to work she is worried and asks me to be very careful.”

The tragedy has touched thousands of people, many of them undocumented but who were there to work to provide for their families. There were waiters, janitors, logistical personnel, honest men and women dedicated to their work.

This “dreamer” who is studying to be a paramedic and help save lives said, “that’s why we’re here, to help the community, and although this is engraved in mind, I want to have the opportunity to continue helping people.”

When Edgar reflects on President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Edgar said: “it’s very sad to know that everything I’ve managed to do so far in this country can be changed from one moment to another by one person.”

He says he knows there are thousands of “dreamers” who are doing wonderful things for this country. “As the name says, we all have a dream and we want to fulfill it in the only country we know,” Edgar said.

The young “dreamer” wanted to send a message to President Trump: “We are not in this country for things to be given to us, nor are we here to take anyone’s job. What we want is to show that we can be better at our jobs. What we want is to have an opportunity to do so and achieve our American dream in this wonderful country. ”

Lea esta historia en español, “El “dreamer” que salvó vidas en la matanza de Las Vegas“.