SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A San Diego Purple Heart Recipient is among the local survivors of the Las Vegas shooting massacre.
Joe Foster was back at work Tuesday at Gearhound, the military tactical store he owns in Oceanside. He was limping around the store, a result of the injury he suffered Sunday night. Foster was hit by a car on the Vegas strip as he was trying to help the wounded.
He said what he went through in Vegas was far worse than anything he experienced on the battlefield.
"What we went through last night or Sunday night now, was worse than anything I ever went through - and that includes being shot," Foster said. "We're getting shot at from a sky rise building...like we were trapped in a kill box. You don't know where to run, it sounded like numerous shooters."
Foster suffered a brain injury in 2010, when a sniper shot him in the head in Afghanistan.
"My brain injury was so bad that I didn't remember what happened, and like, I remember what happened out there and so doe the 22,000 other people," said Foster, recalling Vegas.
Unlike so many others, Foster immediately knew the sound they heard Sunday night was gunfire.
"I turned to a few people and I was like this is not fireworks, run, run," said Foster.
Once again, Foster was in survival mode.
"We were telling people to jump in dumpsters and get behind cars," the combat veteran said, noting that he and several others eventually made their way to a nearby private airport hangar.
He knew the gunfire was coming from above and he says it seemed to go on forever.
"I was shocked about how long the gunfire went on," he said. "It was thousands and thousands of rounds coming down."
Foster is encouraging other survivors to talk about what they went through and get counseling.
"There's no stopping lone wolf attacks," said Foster, who is encouraging survivors not to stop doing things they enjoy, like going to concerts. "I just want to get the word out there, you gotta keep living your life."
