• Christina Kitcat and Kelly Culbertson were at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when bullets began raining down on the crowd
  • Kitcat was hit and the bullet went through her arm and hit her heart and lungs
  • Culbertson, a firefighter and EMT, hit the floor to try and shield Kitcat from the gunfire and assess her injuries
  • With the help of two firefighters from San Diego they'd just met, one of whom had been shot in the foot, they were able to reach the road
  • They were picked up by veteran Marine Taylor Winston who stole a truck from the parking lot and used it to transport two dozen patients to local hospitals
  • 'You saved my life,' Kitcat, told Culbertson while she was in the ICU
  • She is now recovering, while friends describe Culbertson as a hero and his rescue, a 'love story'
  • 'It was their love that saved her,' Kitcat's friend Casey Winchell Napolitano said
By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com
Published: 10:56 EDT, 5 October 2017 | Updated: 11:19 EDT, 5 October 2017
A heroic boyfriend saved his girlfriend's life after she was shot in the heart during the Las Vegas massacre.
Christina Kitcat and Kelly Culbertson, a firefighter and EMT, of California, were watching county star Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when bullets began raining down on the crowd.
Culbertson, who initially mistook the gunshots for fireworks, said Kitcat had suddenly turned to him and said: 'It's hard for me to breathe,' before collapsing into his arms, the Daily Beast reports.
The firefighter hit the floor to try and shield Kitcat from the gunfire and assess her injuries.




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Kelly Culbertson, a firefighter and EMT of California, saved  Christina Kitcat's life after she was shot in the heart during the Las Vegas massacre (pictured together)




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The couple were watching county star Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when bullets began raining down on the crowd. Pictured: People dive for cover at Route 91 
They were serious. The 29-year-old was bleeding heavily and doctors later found a bullet had gone through her arm and splintered, penetrating her heart and lungs.
With the help of Bruce Pollett - who had been shot in the foot - and Tricia Pollett, two firefighters from San Diego they'd just met, they loaded Kitcat into a beer cart and ran out of the concert into the street where ambulances were already triaging patients.
But Culbertson quickly realized there were too many injured people for ambulances. If his girlfriend was going to live, they had to get to a hospital immediately.
The firefighter says he spotted a white Chevy Silverado which was picking up injured people fleeing the festival.
'Do you have room for one more?' Culbertson asked the driver, who replied 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, get in, get in.'




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After Kitcat was shot, the firefighter hit the floor to try and shield her from the gunfire and assess her injuries




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The couple met snowboarding in California in December 2016 and within a few weeks, were dating
Culbertson believes the driver was veteran Marine Taylor Winston who stole a truck from the parking lot 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.'
He still doesn't know which of his other passengers survived. 
Culbertson says his girlfriend was fighting to remain conscious as they sped to hospital, adding that he was 'looking at her, making sure she's OK, making sure she's still breathing, making sure she's still with me.'
'She'd come back, look at me. I'd say, 'Babe, are you with me?' She'd smile. She kept saying, 'I'm going to go to sleep.' I'm like, 'No, you're, profanity, not.'
When they reached the hospital, Culbertson wheeled his girlfriend into A&E, telling the nurse: '29-year-old female with a gunshot to the upper torso' and 'she needs surgery soon.'




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Despite hitting her heart, the bullet had missed all the major coronary arteries. It was a miracle she'd survived, doctors told her family (Kitcat with Culbertson)
Culbertson even placed Kitcat's oxygen mask, while Tricia Pollett - who had traveled with them to the hospital - applied the EKG. When there was nothing more he could do, he helped other patients in the waiting room.
Kitcat went into surgery on Monday where doctors removed the bullet from her left ventricle, and found shrapnel from the bullet had left four holes in her heart and holes in her lungs.
Incredibly, despite hitting her heart, the bullet had missed all the major coronary arteries. It was a miracle she'd survived, doctors told her family.
'You saved my life,' Kitcat, a freelance film production manager, told Culbertson while she was in the ICU.
The first person she asked for when she woke up was him. 
Culbertson, of Kern County Fire Station 75 in Randsburg, California, says he's grateful for his EMT training which saved Kitcat's life but is still grappling with survivors' guilt from the attack.




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Culbertson believes they were rescued by Taylor Winston, 29, (left in his Marine uniform, and right, on Facebook) stole a truck to rescue dozens of people during the Las Vegas massacre




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Winston found this unattended truck near the venue with keys still inside and used it to transport victims to the hospital




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The van was left covered in blood after Winston rushed seriously injured festival goers to hospital 
'It's like, 'Why didn't I get hit? Why her? She didn't do anything to anyone,' he said. 'It was tough. 
'We have a saying: We prepare for the worst but hope for the best. I hoped to never have seen that. Or experienced it. Or even seen the aftermath of it.' 
Friends have since set up a GoFundMe page for Kitcat's medical expenses which has already raised more than $89,000, while the Las Vegas Victims' Fund on GoFundMe has more than $9 million.
The 30-year-old describes Kitcat as 'crazy awesome' and 'one of the kindest people I know'. 
The couple met snowboarding in California in December 2016. A few weeks later, Kitcat texted him inviting him to her mom's annual wine and cheese holiday party.
He then invited her to his family's home for Christmas Day. They began dating a short time later.
Friends describe Culbertson as a hero and his rescue, a 'love story'.
'He's a fireman and he saved her,' Kitcat's friend Casey Winchell Napolitano, 30, of Calabasas said. 'Even though she was shot in the heart, it was her arm that saved her. And it was their love that saved her.'
Las Vegas concert attack is America's deadliest mass shooting