NJ couple who survived Las Vegas shooting welcome baby as they try to move forward

Marriage, the birth of a child and buying a home — all major life-affirming events. Valdo Panzera Jr. and Megan Marie Panzera have achieved all three in the eight months since they survived the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

The North Haledon couple looked at their newborn son, Valdo III, on Wednesday afternoon and said he's the reason they survived the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.

"He's our hero," Valdo said.

Megan was living and teaching in Las Vegas. Her boyfriend at the time, Valdo Jr., from North Haledon, was visiting. They attended the music festival together. 

She was four weeks pregnant on the last day of the festival and she was tired. So instead of standing in the crowd to watch the show they opted for bleacher seats at the back. The decision, they said, may have saved their lives.

When the gunman opened fire on the crowd, Valdo and Megan were able to escape physically unharmed and that saved their unborn child. Fifty-eight people were killed and hundreds were wounded. 

"If we weren't in the back, we would've been up in the crowd and it could've been a lot different for us," Megan said.

The couple ran from the concert area with thousands of others as bullets whizzed by, Valdo said immediately following the shooting.

Not long after the traumatic event, the couple married in March. On June 3 they celebrated the birth of their son, Valdo III.

Memories of the shooting

The shooting also left its scars. 

Valdo and Megan are more attuned to their surroundings now. The birth of their baby has heightened the need to be safe for the couple.

"The things you didn't think about before, you have to think about now, and it's just a different world now that we're going to be raising him in," Megan said. "It's really scary."

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Going to the mall with her newborn son is scary thought, Megan said. Will she ever feel safe attending another concert? She is not sure.

"Can you bring your baby?" she asked. "Running away with a toddler or an infant is a lot harder than running around with yourself. So it's super scary to think about."

Megan said she is constantly asking herself if it's safe to go somewhere. It won't be an easy day, she said, when it's time for her son to go off to school alone.   

"Forget concerts, she said. "School. You can't even send them to school. That's supposed to be your safe place away from home. It's sad. It's really sad."

Following the shooting, Megan left her job teaching kindergartners in Las Vegas. She returned to New Jersey for good, she said, to be with her family. She will soon start to look for a teaching job.

Valdo and Megan had a small wedding in a park right down the block from their house. They plan a bigger celebration one day, but wanted to put the baby first. 

"Mayor Randy George married us at Buehler's Pond at the gazebo," Valdo said. "It was a beautiful day."

They were going to get married at the courthouse, but Megan said it was too "officey."

"It was nice, and then we went out to dinner afterwards," she said. 

Megan and Valdo also put off taking a honeymoon until after the birth of their son. They said he is most likely the youngest survivor of the Las Vegas shooting. There is a Facebook group for Vegas shooting survivors they sometimes read.

"I've seen some babies beforehand and we're pretty sure he is [the youngest]," she said. 

Megan said it's hard to hear other survivor's stories. They seem to be getting lots of support from talking to their therapists and family members. 

"That's not a moment I want to remember really," Valdo said of the shooting.

But, he often does think about it, he said. There are reminders and triggers all around them. Megan said she was watching American Ninja Warrior on television and was reminded of the shooting because the show is taped in Las Vegas.

The songs of Jason Aldean, who performed in Las Vegas that night, remind her of the shooting. She can't really listen to the two songs Aldean was performing in the minutes leading up to the shooting.

"The new one on the radio he has is fine," Megan said. 

The sound of helicopters bothers them both. 

"I hear helicopters and I think right back to that moment," Valdo said. "There were helicopters flying over the strip."

Megan said even food truck smells take them back there. Valdo said being in Las Vegas to visit Megan after the shooting gave him chills.

"It was like flashback central," he said. "The view of the strip. I couldn't even go near it. It was horrible. That shaking. My anxiety goes through the roof. And you hear about all these shootings everywhere else too. It's frightening. Texas, Florida. It's insane. It really is. What's safe?"

Valdo, a dispatcher with the North Haledon Police Department and a member of the Manchester Regional High School District school board, said some things are difficult to deal with. He said in March, while sitting in his car he was alerted of a possible shooter situation at the regional high school. 

"My heart literally dropped," he said. 

It was a false alarm. A student mistook a new teacher as an intruder. But the event was frightening.

The couple have not attended a concert since Las Vegas and have no plans to do so anytime soon. Megan said a concert would just be a torment for her.

"Just remembering running and just thinking how awful it was," she said. "Is it even worth it to even go places? Not really. I don't know."

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Megan and Valdo aren't sure about attending future events with their baby. 

"Security would have to be good," Megan said. "I think it depends on where it is. How it's run."

Valdo said they'll cross that bridge when they get there. 

"It's wild out there," he said. 

What about allowing their son to attend concerts when he's older?

"I don't know," she said. "I wouldn't want to hold him back. I want him to have fun. It's just the world is so different now."

Valdo said it depends on his son's maturity. He'd need to understand right from wrong, be safety conscious, and know how to conduct himself.

"It just depends," he said. "And only time will tell I guess."

For now Megan and Valdo are enjoying their newborn boy.

Follow Jai Agnish on Twitter: @JaiAgnish. Email: agnish@northjersey.com

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