Wichita family trampled at Chiefs’ victory rally now focused on helping their kids recover

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A Wichita family left trying to recover and help their two young kids understand what happened after the Chiefs Super Bowl parade and rally shooting.

Janet Lira and Jesús Vizcarra said they went to the rally with the hope of giving their daughter a glimpse at Taylor Swift. This was meant to be a gift to celebrate her ninth birthday. The family didn’t expect to end up in the middle of a mass shooting.

Arriving in Kansas City early, Jesús, Janet, and their two kids thought they had snagged the perfect spot, 20 feet away from the stage at Union Station. 

Until screams of joy turned into shrieks of terror. 

“To our right, we saw there was a lady on the ground and bleeding,” said Janet Lira. 

She was shoved to the pavement as people ran for their lives. 

“Then it just went really fast after that,” said Janet. 

She grabbed her 10-year-old son, Jesús, to keep others from trampling him. 

“My son was right in front of me, so he fell on top of me, and I rolled over just to keep him safe,” said Janet. 

Pause, in a moment of panic, from a stranger. 

“People were pushing me, running me over, there was this one gentleman, he helped, he was pushing the people off of me, and yanking people around me, so I. He was able to get up,” said Janet. 

Her family was up and off, scrambling for safety. 

“As soon as I grabbed my son, I grabbed my daughter, my husband, I could see him, he told me to just keep going with them,” said Janet. 

Janet said her back was injured, and it hurts to walk, but her focus was on the pain of her children. Her daughter, Hazel, recalls the moment she was pushed to the ground. 

“Because everyone was like screaming, and people kept stepping on me,” said Janet’s daughter, Hazel Lira.

Helping their kids through the trauma while processing their own experiences. 

“I feel like I almost die, and my family too, when I hear a lot of shots, and when I see the lady on the floor and see blood, I get scared,” said Janet’s husband, Jesús Vizcarra.

Janet and her husband said they have no plans to attend any big in the near future. They added the hardest part is trying to continue the conversation with their kids about the situation.