The 18-year-old was at Route 91 Festival when Stephen Paddock, 64, began to shoot into the crowd of concert-goers on Sunday night.
Ms Short and her friend attempted to flee the scene before she was shot in the knee and experienced "unbearable pain".
"I just got shot, I can't run," Ms Short screamed to her friend, she told CNN from hospital.
Selflessly she urged her friend to run for cover as she could not move.
"I just wanted her to go get somewhere safe, I was going to try and do my best to get out of there safe, but I just wanted her to be OK."
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Ms Short said she was able to get behind a bar for shelter from the relentless gunfire.
"You kept hearing gunshots. They just weren't stopping," she recalled.
Stranded in a hail of bullets, Ms Short said a kind stranger ran over and bandaged her knee amid the chaos.
"He just picked me up and threw me over his shoulder," she added.
The man carried her to safety, put her in a taxi and sent her to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where she was treated for her gunshot wound.
"If the guy that helped me is watching I would like to say how grateful I am for saving my life, thank you so much," Ms Short said.
"I [probably wouldn't] be alive if it wasn't for him."
Ms Short added: "It was just the scariest experience of my life".
