Mass shooting survivor reveals 'unexpected' lasting trauma

A mass shooting survivor has candidly shared the lasting trauma she encounters going about her everyday life.

Ellen Davis, from Southern California, was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in October 2017 when a gunman opened fire. 

There were 60 fatalities and more than 850 were injured with Davis sustaining her scars as she crawled over broken glass in an attempt to escape.

The 24-year-old, who now works as a wedding photographer, uploaded a video to TikTok to given an insight into how something as simple as getting a pedicure can bring back the haunting memory of the day.

In the short clip, which has so far been viewed more than 4.6 million times, Davis focuses the camera on her legs as she sits in a nail salon in Irvine.

It shows the beautician massaging her legs and feet alongside text that read: 'When the lady doing my pedicure inevitably asks if my scar is from a car accident and I have to say "no, it's from the mass shooting at the country music festival that happened in Vegas 5 years ago" and now the ladies getting their nails done on either side of me are trying to get a look at my hairy legs to see what scar she's talking about.'

The soundtrack Davis overlaid is a snippet from Taylor Swift's Speak Now with the lyrics: 'All eyes on me. Horrified looks from everyone in the room.'

The clip, which is the first that Davis has shared referencing the shooting, was uploaded to the platform alongside the caption: 'Sorry if this is too niche #traumatok #massshootingsurvivor #route91harvestfestival.' 

Social media users were quick to flood the comment section to share their own experiences as 'fellow survivors' and speak about their lost loved ones.

More than 22,000 people were in attendance at the music event when the mass shooting occurred. 

The gunman opened fire from his hotel room during Jason Aldean's set, killing 60 people and injuring hundreds more, in what was the deadliest mass shooting in US history. 

Davis had been standing in the crowd when the gunshots first rang out, which most people initially dismissed as 'fireworks.'

But once the reality became clear Davis dropped to her hands and knees in an attempt to make herself smaller and find a way out. 

It was as she was crawling that she sustained the injuries from shattered glass that left her leg scarred.

Davis, who has since got a 'Route 91' survivor tattoo, recently told BuzzFeed News: 'I don't think I was really thinking for a little while there. 

'I don't remember really thinking. Your body just kind of does.'

'That experience indirectly altered the course of my life,' she told the outlet. 'I was going to school for political science and prelaw.

'Now I'm on a completely different career path, I didn't finish school, and also just the way that the PTSD from that alters your brain, your memory, your personality.'

Davis has since participated in a series of gun violence protests as well as appearing as a speaker at the March for Our Lives demonstration.