Steve Melanson had a lot to be grateful for on Thanksgiving morning.
On CNN’s “New Day.” he got a chance to talk to the man he credits with saving his wife’s life during the Las Vegas massacre in October.
Melanson gave an update on his wife Rosemarie, who was wounded in the mass shooting. She has been downgraded from the ICU to acute immediate care, taken off a ventilator and given a speaking valve so she can communicate, he said. But he had no idea that he would be joined on the show by Don Matthews.
“She’s alive because of you, Don,” Melanson said.
“I just heard the update. I’m so glad that she’s doing so much better,” Matthews replied.
Family, friends ‘a little bit closer’
Rosmarie Melanson was wounded when a gunman opened fire on a music festival on October 1, killing 58 people. She was one of about 500 who were injured. According to her husband, who recounted the events to CNN’s Erica Hill, Matthews stayed with Rosemarie until she could be transported from the scene.
“We’re waiting for her to get a little bit better and we’re gonna get you down here and we’re gonna have a big reunion with you and with her,” the Nevada man told Matthews.
“You both have a lot, obviously, to be thankful for,” Hill said before asking the two men what will make Thanksgiving different this year.
“What I’m thankful for is that Rosemarie survived and she’s alive,” said Melanson. “What’s going to be different is not having her home for Thanksgiving but I’m going to be spending most of the day with her at the hospital.”
“Family and friends are a little bit closer, certainly,” said Matthews. “I kind of have a new little family out there in Las Vegas now.”