Jonathan Smith — who earned news headlines for his selfless actions at the Route 91 Harvest Festival massacre, helping dozens of people to safety before getting shot himself — became emotional on Wednesday, Oct. 4, when he spoke live on CNN to the police officer that saved his own life.
When Smith was hit in the neck and arm by fire, an off-duty cop from San Diego, Tom McGrath, sprung to action and transported him to safety, covering his bullet-hole wounds with his fingers until they made it to the hospital.
In the touching interview, Smith was “reunited” with McGrath over the phone. Both men expressed emotion upon hearing each other’s voices.
“He’s somebody who inspires me,” McGrath said about Smith, praising his bravery. “I know he might not want to give himself all the credit, but he definitely did a wonderful job, and I was just happy to be there to help him towards the end, and get him out of there when he was hit.”
Smith, who told the interviewer, “I honestly thought I was going to die,” called McGrath his “brother” and noted: “”I owe that man my life because from the moment I got hit, he was the first one to actually help me stop the bleeding. He never left my side at all…I kept telling him ‘I don’t want to die,’ and he said ‘You’re not going to die, I got you.’”
Smith added some comments regarding his own brave actions: “Everyone’s been using that word — ‘hero.’ I’ve been saying it since the whole time I got home — I’m not a hero, I’m far from a hero. I think I just did what anybody would do,” he said.
“Was it smart [what I did]? Probably not,” he admitted. “But if that was someone else in those shoes, and they seen me, I would want them to come back and help me.”
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This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
