A Kinmel Bay soldier and father of two, helped victims of the Las Vegas shooting in the aftermath of the massacre which left 58 people dead.

Trooper Dean Priestley of 1st Queen Dragoon Guards, the Welsh Cavalry, was taking a few days break with mates following an exercise with the US Army in the Mojave desert.

Tpr Priestley, aged 26, who comes from Coed Avenue, Kinmel Bay, said: “I was with my mates having a meal in a hotel in Las Vegas when people burst in saying there was a gunman outside trying to kill them. We all tried to get as many people in as we could and to give them first aid. There were all sorts of wounds, hands crushed from being trampled on, cuts and gunshot wounds. I even helped a man who had a gunshot wound in his buttocks.

”We took as many of them as we cold to the triage point where the paramedics and ambulances were. There was still gunfire going on while we were dong this. We spent time trying to calm hysterical people down and prevent them from hyperventilating.

”We had just finished an exercise in the desert and had practiced casualty drills, this helped massively, and we did what we did without thinking, it was a reflex.”

Dean is married to Tasha, who comes from Prestatyn, and they have two children, Scarlett aged three and Charlie aged one. Dean is a former pupil of Emrys Ap Iwan school. He has been in the Army for four years and joined for the travel.   

In one of the worst mass shootings in the United States, 58 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. The gunman, 64-year-old retired accountant Stephen Paddock, amassed an arsenal in a  room in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. He opened fire into the crowd at a music festival which his room overlooked. He is believed to have committed suicide before police stormed his room.

Ist Queens Dragoon Guards is based at Swanton Morley in Norfolk. The soldiers were in Las Vegas taking a few days off following a strenuous exercise with the US Army in Mojave desert south west of Las Vegas. The Queens Dragoon Guards role is to provide reconnaissance ahead of an armoured force.