Markie Coffer was already a week past her due date when she decided to go to the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas with her boyfriend, Travis Matheson, and his brother, Cody Matheson.
“We decided, ‘Oh we’ll go. Maybe it will help [the baby] come out and we were just there having fun,” Markie said.
But as they listened to headliner Jason Aldean play on the final night, gunshots suddenly rang out. What had been a weekend full of music and fun quickly turned into the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
Travis served in the Army, so his military instincts kicked in as soon as he heard the gunfire. “I told her, ‘We got to get to safety and find somewhere to hide,” he said.
Markie, Travis, and Cody got down on the ground and crawled military-style as bullets whizzed past. Cody was shot in the shoulder, but thankfully all three made it out alive.
“One of my brother’s friends picked us up and brought us straight [to the hospital],” Markie said. “It was chaotic down there.”
Two days later, Markie was back in the hospital to give birth to her baby boy. Despite the chaos of the previous few days, the baby came out healthy and strong.
When trying to come up with a name for their son, Travis and Markie thought back on the past few days. They settled on the name Wyatt, a name which comes from Old and Medieval English and is a combination of words which mean “battle” and “brave” or “hardy.”
“He’s been unique since the beginning,” Markie said.
“[He is] a light at the end of the tunnel,” Travis added.
The couple mourns the loss of so many lives on that horrific night but is thankful their lives were spared and Wyatt was given a chance at life.
“I’m thankful nothing happened worse to any one of us…and we couldn’t be here for him,” Markie said. “It was perfect timing for him.”
The new little family of three is now home soaking up their time together.
Doctors expect Cody to make a full recovery.
Do you love the meaning behind baby Wyatt’s name as much as we do? So share this!
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