INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman is crediting God for saving her life during the Sept. 7 mass shooting along Interstate 75 in Kentucky.
"From the moment I was hit, I was like, 'God, I've never done this before, so I'm going to need some help here. You're going to have to keep me calm,'" said Janet Booth. "We serve a mighty God. He does not leave us or forsake us. I didn't get frightened at all. I was at peace throughout the whole thing."
Booth said she heard gunshots as she drove her car on I-75 on her way back to Indiana from North Carolina, where she spent time hiking with her daughter.
"The third or fourth gunshot that I heard, I felt," said Booth. "I felt the pain in my left leg and my first thought is, 'I've been hit.' I took a deep breath and calmly pulled off the side of the road without wrecking."
Booth said several other cars pulled off the interstate, including an 18-wheeler.
"He took a bullet in the fuel tank and was leaking oil in the interstate," said Booth.
Booth said a wounded driver from a car in front of her came up to her car.
"I heard him say, 'I'm hit, but I'm not hit bad'. He ran to my door. He's on the phone with 911 and looking at me at the same time. I hear him tell the 911 dispatcher where the shooter is. He can see the shooter," said Booth.
Booth said the good Samaritan identified himself as a firefighter named Walter.
"He asked if it was okay to open the door. He wanted to look at my wound and I hear him say to the 911 operator, 'She's gushing blood,'" said Booth.
The man used a bag in Booth's car to stop the bleeding on her leg.
"He said he's seen worse wounds. He said, 'You need to get down, he's still shooting.' This brave man, Walter, did not leave my side until they put me in the ambulance," said Booth. "I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I knew for a short period of time, I was able to put pressure on my own wound. I wasn't sure how long my strength was going to hold up because I was losing a lot of blood."
"When I was moved from my vehicle, someone pointed out that a bullet grazed the hood of my car. If I had been 10-12 inches farther north along the highway when that bullet rang out, it would have gone straight through the chest," said Booth.
Booth was flown in a medical helicopter to a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. Doctors told her that surgery was too risky for her fractured hip, so the bullet fragments will stay in her leg.
"I have a bullet hole in my upper thigh that the nurse said she could put her thumb in it. It's quite large," said Booth.
Doctors told Booth it will take 6 to 12 weeks to recover. She has spent time writing down three pages of miracles that she has seen in light of the shooting.
"No arteries in my leg were severed by the bullet," said Booth. "No one was killed. How amazing is that? There was no fire or explosion when the 18-wheeler was shot in the fuel tank and fuel was leaking all over the highway. Sept. 7 could have ended with a lot of body bags. That man had 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a high-powered rifle," said Booth.
Right now, Booth uses a walker to get around and passes some of the time playing her favorite musical instrument, the oboe. She plays it as a volunteer musician with the Indianapolis Municipal Band. The group got the invitation of a lifetime to perform in France this summer.
"We were asked to play a concert on Omaha Beach for the celebration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day," said Booth.
As Booth comes back to her favorite musical instrument and looks back at the concert at Normandy and the mass shooting in Kentucky, she summarizes the year this way.
"In both instances, overwhelming gratitude had been my primary emotion, gratitude to the veterans that stormed the beach and fought for our freedom. And this time, gratitude to a God who loves us and a God who wants to show us he's still in the business of miracles," Booth said.
"I don't want to feel sorry for myself because this happened. I want this to be part of my testimony as a Christ follower of how good God is. If I was a victim, it would be all about me. I don't want this to be about me. In my opinion, this is about God."