Raw Video: Conversation with Fort Hood Hero Amber Bahr
The following is TODAY'S TMJ4 HD's Charles Benson talking with Fort Hood shooting victim and hero Amber Bahr, from Random Lake, Wis.
Charles: "Amber, how are you doing this morning?"
Amber: "A lot better."
Charles: "Tell us a little about your injury and what that's done to you, in terms of how you're feeling about it."
Amber: "I don't know. I don't think it's really hit me yet that I got shot, I mean, I can see the wound and stuff, but I don't think mentally it's hit me yet."
Charles: "When did you realize what happened?"
Amber: "Me and a few of my buddies, we were just sitting in a chair to the right and we weren't in the middle where people were waiting in line to speak to the physicians, and we were just sitting there talking and just talking about anything really, and then all of a sudden I heard somebody yelling. I didn't know what they were yelling, and then I heard rounds going off, and we all hit the ground and covered our heads. I guess the majority of us thought it was a drill. I thought it was a drill, and so we were doing what we were trained to do. Then the rounds stopped, and I smelled the sulfur, and I heard screaming, and I saw blood, and I realized it wasn't a drill."
Charles: "Did you know this person that was firing? Did you see him?"
Amber: "No. I didn't know who he was, and I didn't see him. I've never seen him before."
Charles: "Is there chaos?"
Amber: "People are screaming and pulling tables and chairs over themselves and their battle buddies to protect themselves. People are trying to crawl to the door to get out of the building. I started pushing the people in front of me to the door, and I was pulling people behind me to the door, and once I got the people out of the building that were around me, I low-crawled to the door, and once I got to the door I got up and ran out of the building.
"I still don't know I'm shot at that time. When I got outside, I laid down on the grass. I actually fell down, and I just covered my head, and then I looked up and saw two of my battle buddies were right next to the door, and I knew I had to get them away from the door before anything else happened to them, so I ran to them. I told one of them to get up and run to the truck, and then one told me he couldn't run, he couldn't walk, so I dragged him to the truck.
"At the hospital, I helped carry one of my battle buddies in the hospital and I put him on the bed, and the nurse tells me to sit down on the bed and relax and breathe, and I said I couldn't, and I sat down for a little bit and my back started hurting, and I got up and I asked one of the sergeants that were in there if anything (happened) because my back was hurting, like if I scratched it or if I bruised it or something getting on to the truck, and he said, 'No.' I was shot.
"I was like, 'No, really, what happened to me?' and he was like, 'You got shot,' and he put me on a bed and took me into a room and treated me. I didn't realize it at all."
When asked about friends that had been injured:
Amber: "They're good. I went to the hospital yesterday and saw them, and they're doing really well."
When asked about losing comrades:
Amber: "It's just all really chaotic. I don't think it really has sunk in yet. I don't know. I guess I'm just questioning why."
When asked about her mother calming Amber down:
Amber: "That was really important, It made me forget about everything, It made me feel a lot better."
Charles: "You're still going to be deployed?"
Amber: "Yes. I'm looking forward to it. I've got to take it easy until we deploy. I have a follow up with surgery later this week, and they're going to determine whether or not they take the fragments out."
When asked about meeting the President:
Amber: "That's crazy, that's really crazy."
Charles: "People back home are calling you a hero. How do you feel?"
Amber: "I don't know. I don't really see myself as a hero. I was just helping my battle buddies and doing my job."
Charles: "This moment has changed your life."
Amber: "I guess it has, yeah."
Following his conversation with Amber, Charles spoke with her mother, Lisa Pfund.
Charles: "What's it been like for you?"
Lisa: "It's just, um, it's hard to see her trying to deal with it. We probably won't be down here when she really realizes what happened."
Charles: "How worried will you be when she deploys?"
Lisa: "I'm going to have to deal."
Next Article in Local: Child psyciatrist shortage in central and northern WI




0 COMMENTS
ADD A COMMENT