Jason Aldean visits Las Vegas shooting survivors in hospital
LAS VEGAS — Country star Jason Aldean visited survivors of last week's deadly Las Vegas shooting in the hospital. The singer, who was on stage performing when the gunfire erupted at a country music festival, returned to Las Vegas a week after the shooting that left 58 people dead and hundreds more hurt.
University Medical Center of Southern Nevada thanked Aldean on Facebook Sunday for visiting with survivors. The hospital says Aldean's visit "helped heal hearts and cheer those who were wounded."
Our extreme gratitude to Country Music Star Jason Aldean for visiting UMC today. Jason spent time with our patients who...
Posted by University Medical Center of Southern Nevada on Sunday, October 8, 2017
Aldean's wife, Brittany, posted a picture of herself and Jason on Instagram looking at the Mandalay Bay resort, where shooter Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd from his hotel room Oct. 1. She wrote in the caption that seeing the strength of victims helped the couple "try to begin the healing process."
A post shared by Brittany Aldean (@brittanyaldean) on
Aldean visited Las Vegas just a day after he performed on "Saturday Night Live." On the show, he paid tribute to the victims of the mass shooting and the late rock superstar Tom Petty with one of Petty's songs.
Aldean performed "I Won't Back Down" during the live opening Saturday night and then introduced the show.
"This week, we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history. Like everyone, I'm struggling to understand what happened that night and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal," Aldean said. "But you can be sure that we're going to walk through these tough times together, every step of the way. Because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit — it's unbreakable."
Aldean canceled his weekend concerts out of respect for the victims. His tour is to resume on Thursday in Tulsa.