58 Strong – Vegas Shooting
“A lot of reminders that go through my head about that night, anger, sadness.,”
Sky Sox pitcher Bubba Derby was enjoying the Jason Aldean concert with family and friends when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, “It is something that I pray about everyday I keep asking God to give me strength to get me through everything. It does take an emotional toll everyday on me,” says Derby.
It’s so emotional that Derby doesn’t want to relive the horrific things he witnessed on that fateful night but he did speak with TMZ days after the Vegas shooting, “The first three pops that we heard just sounded like fireworks. Just thought somebody was messing around. I turned and I looked and my Aunt, she was behind me and I remember looking at here eyes and it was that look of are we about to die? Is this it for us,?”
While bullets were hitting the ground Derby selflessly shielded two women. They were the lucky ones to survive, “I’m very fortunate to be out and I know my family is fortunate as well to be out,” says Derby, “Unless you’ve experienced something like that you can’t put yourself in that position,” Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet, “Obviously it would be a different story if you know if I did lose my sister or lose somebody else that was there that meant the world to me,” added Derby.
Derby doesn’t want the victims or the families who lost loved ones to ever be forgotten so he has 58 strong stitched into his glove, “It’s the total count of lives and souls lost,” says Derby.
The glove serves as a daily reminder., “At the end of the day when I look down at the 58 strong it reminds me that it is just a game and how lucky I am just to be alive,” says Derby.
He hopes his kind gesture helps in the healing process, “Nothing will ever make it better. I feel like a little recognition could help them maybe in their grieving process. Cuz let’s be real the grieving never stops,”says Derby.
Other than the victims to never be forgotten.. Derby hopes and prays for a universal thought, “I just pray that people learn to respect one another in a different way. It’s kind of a word that’s been lost. You know it’s not that hard respect another person another human being. I don’t think it’s hard to respect human life in general. I just hope people start to learn that a little bit better after these incidents,” says Derby.
