美国国家公共电台 NPR A Survivor Helps Other Survivors Process The Horrors Of The Las Vegas Mass Shooting

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

One year ago today, a reclusive, high-stakes gambler opened fire on thousands of people at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. Police say they still don't know why he did it. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Fifty-eight people were killed plus the gunman. Hundreds more were wounded.

NPR's Eric Westervelt has the story about one of the survivors², a woman who's trying to help others heal.

But first, a warning - you will hear the sound of gunfire in this report.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE³: Psychologist Dr. Shiva Ghaed from San Diego was near the front of the stage of the Route 91 country music festival for star Jason Aldean. He was early into his show when that jarring, rapid-fire popping sound began. At first, Ghaed and her friends, who were in town for a girls' weekend, didn't think much of it. Someone nearby had been shooting off confetti poppers, plus all the music, the lights.

SHIVA GHAED: I mean, it's Vegas, right? So I mean, we didn't know. Maybe the show had fireworks, or maybe there were fireworks nearby.

WESTERVELT: But when the stage lights went out, floodlights came on and the quick-fire, semi-automatic-rifle crackle continued. Ghaed's confusion quickly turned to terror. This is gunfire sound captured on a witness's cellphone video.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)

WESTERVELT: While many people screamed and yelled, Ghaed says, others seemed oddly nonchalant. Sound seemed to echo everywhere.

GHAED: The gunshot sounds kept changing and in different directions. And some sounded very far away. Some sounded like they were coming over the fence.

WESTERVELT: She first huddled⁴ under a plastic table, then in between two recycling cans - more gunfire and fear.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Stay down.

WESTERVELT: She then made a dash to some motorized scooters parked near the stage.

GHAED: I literally⁵ sat there crouched⁶ behind this wheelchair scooter, thinking over and over again, please, please, don't hit me. Please, please, just don't hit anything vital. Don't hit anything vital. Don't hit anything vital - just over and over again.

WESTERVELT: Four people near Ghaed were killed. The group she was with finally made a run for it, stepping over pools of blood and carnage. The shooting started just after 10 p.m. It took several hours of panic and fleeing before Ghaed finally felt safe in a nearby hotel's secure conference room. She remembers looking down at her Fitbit.

GHAED: And it was 12:30 - so 2 1/2 hours of running and hiding and running and hiding. And as I sat in that room, I realized that I had a decision to make, and it was a really important decision. I could try to heal in private, or I could just lead by example.

WESTERVELT: She chose the latter. The licensed⁷ clinical psychologist has worked extensively with combat veterans and military personnel, some with PTSD in the San Diego area. Back home a few days later, Ghaed realized there just wasn't much out there to help people process that night's horrors and nothing that seemed easily accessible.

GHAED: You know, I had a couple of sleepless⁸ nights probably not unlike anybody else. And I just - I awakened⁹ in a panic thinking about how many people would have invisible wounds.

WESTERVELT: Dr. Ghaed didn't realize yet how deep her own invisible wounds ran. She called up the manager of a local country music bar and dance hall where she was a regular. She knew it was closed on Mondays. Could she offer free counseling there? The owner said yes. She put out the word through local TV and social media. And just seven days after the shooting, she held her first support group. More than 40 Las Vegas shooting survivors showed up.

GHAED: I knew that you have to talk about it. You have to think about it. You have to face it. You have to feel your feelings about it.

WESTERVELT: Just about every Monday since the shooting, between 40 and 60 survivors come to the dance hall to talk. The group's just for them, not the general public, not the media. They meet together before splitting up into small groups of five or six. Ghaed drops in on discussions. The small groups are where she says people really open up - trouble sleeping, anxiety, stress, shaken by loud noises.

In between giving lessons with titles such as Why Avoidance Makes It Worse and Tips On Managing Nightmares, Ghaed realized she had lots of blank spots in her memory, things she'd blocked out. The healer now needed her own healing. The PTSD counselor¹⁰ now knew personally more of what the service men and women she'd treated had gone through. A year later, she realizes she needed the group as much as they needed her.

GHAED: The first few months were really rough for me. I'm not going to lie. I guess I thought that my expertise¹¹ and experience in treating trauma¹² for all of these years would somehow protect me or immunize me from the effects of living through a near-death experience. And in fact, it didn't (laughter), you know?

WESTERVELT: The healing won't end for Ghaed on this anniversary, but the weekly survivor¹ meetings at the dance bar will. There'll be a final gathering¹³, a potluck dinner and remembrance tonight, one year to the day since the shooting. It won't be a celebration or a memorial but something in between. Eric Westervelt, NPR News.

1 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

7 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

8 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

9 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

11 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

12 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

13 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。