They’re unlikely heroes, but make no mistake about it, these selfless men who were on leave, and on foreign soil while training in Nevada, jumped into action and saved countless American lives. Every American owes these brave young men a debt of gratitude for running towards the fire in a foreign nation to save the lives of perfect strangers…

British troops on leave in Las Vegas during the mass shooting have revealed how they ran through screaming crowds to save the wounded.

Speaking for the first time since the massacre on Sunday night, they said used pillows, tea towels, belts and their shirts as makeshift tourniquets to stop the injured bleeding out as dead bodies lay around them.

In an emotional interview, Trooper Ross Woodward, 23, said he used his army training to try and save a man who had been shot in his back but he tragically died as he was holding his hand.

Six troopers from the Queen’s Dragoon Guards were in the city on the night gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 people in the largest mass shooting in modern US history.

The British troopers had been taking part in desert training in Nevada and were on leave in the city drinking and visiting casinos at the time.

They were split between the Hooters Hotel and the Tropicana Hotel, close to where the concert was taking place.

Last night the men, who are yet to go to war, described the horrifying scenes as they rushed to the scene to help the wounded and save lives.

Trooper Woodward, from Nottingham, was walking towards the Tropicana Hotel from a casino when he heard gunshots and screams.

Speaking from the US before their flight home, he said: ‘At first we just believed it was fireworks and then there was chaos. Everyone was screaming the ‘gun man’s coming’.

He said he started finding casualties, adding: ‘Someone had been shot and I was trying to find the exit wound. He was just saying it was difficult to breathe.

‘I tried to help him but he kept telling me ‘I can’t breathe’, he was getting more and more panicked.
‘He died while holding my hand.’

Trooper Woodward went on to save three people who had been injured.

In another case, he used a tourniquet and a tea towel as a field dressing. Then he helped a woman in a wheelchair who had been shot in the back.

He added: ‘The training kicked in, and we went straight into action.

‘I wouldn’t consider myself a hero – I just think any soldier would have done the same in our position.’

His younger brother Curtis Dyer, 22, (pictured together)  said the actions reflected the character of his sibling, who is originally from Beeston, Nottinghamshire, and had been training in the US with the British Army.

Mr. Dyer said: ‘He is the type of the person who would do it anyway, he’s always there to help people when they need his help, the Army always brought out the best in him.

‘He’s caring, he loves his job, he’s quite family-orientated.

‘He just looks forward to going away with the army, he looks forward to the free time afterwards, as you can imagine the Army work their balls off to protect us.

‘It just like it happened by fate.’

Trooper Stuart Finlay, 25, who was with Trooper Woodward at the time, rushed to help a woman who had been shot in the small of her back and saved her life.

He said: ‘I applied pressure with towels from an apartment and tied a shirt around her.
‘I maintained the pressure for some 10-20 minutes. I like to think I saved her life. I kept telling her she would be okay, that everything would be okay.

‘I kept the conversation going.’

He went on to help a woman who had been shot in both legs, then made an improvised splint for a woman who had a broken leg.

He added: ‘We ran towards where it was, running through the people who were running past us screaming. It was an instant reaction.

‘We were just glad we could help.’

Trooper Chris May, 24, who was also with Troopers Finlay and Woodward, identified himself to policemen and was tasked to help the FBI.

He helped a man who had been shot in the head and applied pressure to the wound with a gauze before medics arrived before helping a woman who had been shot in the ankle.

He said: ‘A woman appeared with her husband. When she arrived I had a quick look over her and she had a gunshot wound to her ankle.

‘The round has gone straight through and she was bleeding severely.

She was in shock, her husband said ‘Help her, help her, she’s going to die’.’

He added: ‘There was complete panic, everyone was running through doors, screaming, just trying to get away.

‘They believed someone was chasing them. We were trying to get everyone in the hotel.
‘It was a pretty terrible thing to be part of.’

Trooper Dean Priestley, 28, from Wales, was with Troopers James Astbury and Trooper Zak Davidson in Hooters restaurant when the incident started and people burst into the restaurant.

He said: ‘You are never off duty. You always have this level of professionalism about yourself, where you feel like you should help, you should be there to help people.

‘You have got the background, you have got the training to help people, so why wouldn’t you.’
Trooper Astbury, 22, from Ruthin, North Wales, said: ‘I hope we saved lives, I like to think we did what we could.’

Another military man who bravely helped drag the injured to safety was Taylor Winston who ‘stole’ a truck from the parking lot after finding the keys in the ignition and used it to transport two dozen patients to local hospitals.

 

Winston, who joined the Marines at 17 and served two tours in Iraq before leaving in 2011, described the massacre as a ‘mini war zone’ but realized ‘we needed to get them out of there regardless of our safety.’

For entire story: Daily Mail