Kristen RemingtonChannel 2 News
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Cait Kelley looked out over a crowd of friends and family members with a smile on her face. This was her wedding day; a day that almost did not happen.
With every step down the aisle, Cait realized she was one step closer to a future with her longtime love and one step further from a day she would rather forget.
Seven weeks ago, Sergeant Cait Kelley and four fellow Nevada National Guard members were finishing up breakfast at the IHOP restaurant in Carson City. "I remember every detail," she told me with glassy eyes.
As she and her colleagues wrapped up their training meeting, Kelley says she spotted a man walk towards them; a man later identified as Eduardo Sencion. "Smiling, like I said, smiling, teeth, smiling. And I remember before I saw him, I smelled that burning carbon smell and that was my cue something was wrong and I felt something was wrong that day, but I couldn't have know what to do, although I beat myself up over it."
She went on to explain, "He came in and started firing, just firing from his chest, not even a correct way to fire a weapon, or not the way the military teaches you, but just firing. I just ducked under the table and pushed the table up so we had some cover and I pulled down Major Kelly's arm so he was laying down on the bench. And I kind of just crouched down behind the pole of the table and that's when I got shot in the foot."
Three of her friends did not survive the attack. After the gunman killed himself, she tied a tourniquet around a fourth colleague and even helped a civilian who was wounded. Then, while waiting for emergency crews to arrive, she called Jason Koffarnus, her boyfriend and the father of her 3-year-old son, to tell him she was okay. He rushed to meet her at the hospital. "Just being at the hospital and seeing his face… I can't explain to you what he means to me."
It was then they realized the fragility of life. A short time later, Jason proposed. Not long after putting an engagement ring on her finger, the couple received another surprise. Cait received a call from a Reno business offering to host their wedding for free.
"Let's turn a very tragic event into a community positive," said Teri Bath with the Reno Garden Shop Nursery off Mayberry and McCarran Boulevard. She rallied other businesses as well - vendors, caterers, decorators and planners and not one turned down the opportunity to help. "Everything for this wedding is donated by this community... and more."
Cait is still stunned by the generosity. "Can you believe how many people have come forward just to help this one soldier who got shot and had an unfortunate occurrence?!" Thanks to them, Cait had a perfect wedding and now has new reason to smile. She is not only grateful to be part of a community committed to helping her recover, but thankful for the love in her heart – no one can take away.
