Austin and Chantal Monfort went to Las Vegas in October 2017 for country music. They had no idea the trip would change both of their lives forever.
The pair had met just one night earlier, and they were still essentially strangers when they found themselves at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1.
When gunfire erupted, Austin never left Chantal’s side. They ran across the festival grounds together, holding hands — and eventually built the life they almost didn’t get to have.
Austin and Chantal Met the Night Before Route 91
Chantal, who is originally from Canada, says she and Austin first met at Gilley’s in Las Vegas the night before the festival.
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“He was looking at me across the room, and I was definitely playing hard to get, but once he came over, it was like I knew him forever,” she tells Taste of Country.
They spent the rest of the night together, even trying to ride the New York-New York roller coaster, which had been on Chantal’s Vegas bucket list. Unfortunately, it was closed by the time they got there.
The next day, Chantal’s friends planned to go shopping, but she wanted to get to the festival early. She texted Austin, and he agreed to join her.
“We grabbed a beer and tried to make our way as close to the stage as possible,” she recalls. They ended up on the right-hand side of the festival grounds, overlooking Mandalay Bay.
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Later that night, they were about six people from the front of the crowd when the shooting began.
Austin Never Left Chantal’s Side
The Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting on Oct. 1, 2017, killed 58 people that night and injured more than 400 others. Two additional victims later died from their injuries.
For Chantal and Austin, the moments that followed became part of the story they would carry with them for the rest of their lives.
“He never left my side; we ran out together,” Chantal says.
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Nine years later, Chantal reflected on that night in a social media post marking the anniversary.
We were basically strangers, but we ran across those festival grounds hand in hand. He never once left my side.
From Route 91 to a Life Together
Chantal and Austin are now six years into their marriage and have two children. “I still think about how close we came to never getting this life,” Chantal wrote.
She also used the anniversary to remember the people who didn’t survive and the survivors who continue to carry the weight of that night.
“To the people who didn’t come home that night, and to every survivor still carrying it: we remember you, today and always,” she wrote.
Remembering the Victims of Route 91 and Their Stories
Their stories should never be forgotten.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
