"On October 1, a part of me changed that night," Jovanna Calzadillas said. "Even though I will not be the same Jovanna, I will come back stronger."
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Barrow Neurological Institute officials say Calzadillas' injuries were so critical that they talked to her family about removing life support.
"Her gunshot wound was severe," husband Francisco Calzadillas said. "Her injury was severe. But we, as a family, we left it in God's hands. And here she is."
Doctors did not expect the mother of two to survive, and they told Francisco to prepare for the worst.
"The doctor came and asked me if she wanted to be an organ donor," he said. "And I told him we weren't going that route yet."
He wondered what he should do, but he held onto his faith. And then, he says he got a sign.
"Two days later, I had a dream that Jovanna visited me," he said. "She hugged me and kissed me, and she said everything is going to be OK."
Two weeks after the shooting, Calzadillas was transferred to hospital in Phoenix so she could be closer to her family. Then, there were signs of progress. She woke up, and around Thanksgiving, she was able to string words together again.
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She says one thing kept her going.
"My kids and my family," she said. "I will not quit on them and I will not quit on myself."
Now, as Calzadillas gets ready to rejoin her family nearly four months after authorities say Stephen Paddock opened fire on the concert crowd, she wants the world to hear this message.
"We will not let people like him win," she said. "We will not live in fear."