A memorial cross has been erected in Las Vegas for Jordan McIldoon.
The 23-year-old Maple Ridge man was one of 59 people fatally shot when a gunman rained down bullets at concert-goers Oct. 1 in Las Vegas.
He died protecting his girlfriend Amber Bereza. They had been attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
Stephen Paddock opened fire at a crowd at the music festival just after shooting a Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino security guard.
Lisa Warner, who grew up in Maple Ridge, has lived in Las Vegas for the past seven years and sent photos of the memorial there for McIldoon to her mother in Pitt Meadows.
“I am still trying to process everything, and it just doesn’t process, which I guess is normal in a messed up situation like this,” Warner wrote.
“But I was trying to reach out to anyone in Maple Ridge if they wanted me to put anything on his cross when I went on Tuesday to pay my respects.”
Her mother sent her a website photo and was so moved she thought it appropriate to bring that picture to his cross.
“And then I wanted to take some photos of his memorial cross here in Vegas to show people back home that his memory is living on strong here, too.”
She said all of the crosses are full of flowers and loving messages and mementos and flags, so many that the names of those killed are obscured.
“On Jordan’s cross, there are so many flowers and candles and loving messages and Canadian flags and pictures and stickers,” Warner said.
A gofundme page for his family has raised more than $34,500.
Last weekend, friends organized a rally in his honour. A convoy of growling diesel trucks and Harley Davidson motorcycles met in Langley, crossed the Golden Ears Bridge, rolled through Maple Ridge, and continued to Harrison Lake.
A funeral provided by Garden Hill Funeral Home in Maple Ridge has been tentatively scheduled for next today, Oct. 13.
