A Los Angeles Fire Department captain is hoping that tragedy does not strike twice after his daughter was left comatose following the deadly mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert.
Kristina Terrill Staples, 34, had gone to the concert with her husband and some family members, eager to see Jason Aldean perform. As she worked her way toward the front of the stage, Stephen Paddock began raining gunfire from above, a bullet striking Staples in the head.
As the gunman fired and bullets skipped on the ground around them, Staples' husband frantically began searching for his wife. He found her in the hospital as an anonymous Jane Doe, lying comatose.
"My wife was in the same position she was, laying there on life support," said LAFD Capt. Greg Terrill, who fought back tears as he described his dread at what may come.
Terrill Staples' condition is uncanny as it is devastating. Thirty-four years ago, this same month of October, then-baby Terrill Staples' mother suffered major head trauma in a car accident in Orange County.
Terrill Staples has a year-and-a-half year old daughter. When her mother died of her injuries, she had a year and-a-half-old son.
Now Terrill has to bear the heartache of watching his daughter clinging to life on a hospital bed.
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"It's very tough for me to even walk in there," he said.
The doctors have told him it's a waiting game. His only recourse has been to yell at her to try to will her back to life.
"She has to wake up," Terrill said.
If you would like to donate to a GoFundMe account set up to help fund Terrill Staples' medical bills, you may do so here. Note that GoFundMe deducts 7.9 percent of all funds raised in the form of platform and payment processing charges.
