With tears and blood streaming from her eyes, she had watched two of her friends die. A survivor of the 2018 Santa Fe High School mass shooting moved the American Idol judges to tears during his audition Sunday night, and inspired an . She took part in March for Our Lives, a student-led mass demonstration in March 2018 in Washington, D.C., to push for gun control legislation. Touray leaned against a chain-link fence and closed her eyes, placing a hand on her forehead. I continue to teach at another school in Newtown, trying to build a generation of empathetic problem solvers. I know, Fuentes replied, and both of them laughed. We are grateful that our bodies and the bodies of our children are whole and we strive to support those who are not. Just in terms of, like, helping, what else do you think that we could do other than what were already doing? Touray asked, holding a pink notebook that on some pages had her new gun violence notes this time HAS to be different the #1 cause of death in children is guns and on others had food ideas for her upcoming graduate party banana pudding!. Hegarty, a Sandy Hook survivor, lost 20 young classmates and six educators in that shooting, which marks its somber 10th remembrance this year. Part of HuffPost Personal. "She ran out of the school building covered from head to toe with blood and the first thing she said to her mom was, 'Mommy, I'm OK but all my friends are dead,'" Pastor Jim Solomon told ABC News' Lara Spencer this weekend. Advertisement "She ran out of the school building covered from head to toe with blood and the first thing she said to her mom was, 'Mommy, I'm OK but all my . "The mom told me, and I thought this was very insightful, that she was suffering from what she felt was survivor's guilt because so many of her friends no longer have their children but [her mom] has hers," the pastor said. They were all so smart and determined. I need help, Touray told her, tears trickling down the side of her nose. ", "Somehow in that moment, by God's grace, [she] was able to act as she was already deceased.". Jackie Matthews survived the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook and the MSU shooting Monday night. Im sorry that youre part of the club that none of us want to be part of, he said. Aalayah EastmondParkland, Florida 2018Hid under body of classmate to survive a shooting. We all loved this boy so much. They're not going to be able to learn.". The Uvalde shooting that left 21 dead and 17 more wounded instantly brought Arokium back 10 years to the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, on Dec. 14, 2012. Did you encounter any technical issues? Updated. +117 students and teachers have been fatally shot at schools since Sandy Hook. And when she cried and told Abbey she missed Ms. Soto Mrs. Clements simply held her and said, I do too.. Afterward, Hogg sat next to her. How difficult the aftermath is, and the decisions it entails, hasnt been easily understood. Mia Page-TrettaSanta Clarita, California 2019Shot in the stomach. It was just past 1 p.m. Saturday and, combined, they had already talked to NBC, CBS, NPR and MSNBC, along with a batch of other news outlets. 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There were no Hollywood celebrities leading chants, no pop stars belting anthems. She will graduate from Newtown High School next week. Alissa is the co-founder of. Im freaking out, Touray said, leaning on her knees. For more on Nicole Melchionno, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day. "I thought I was never going to see my family again," she says. Nicole was in the second grade when a gunman shot and killed 26 people at her school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012. Samantha FuentesParkland, Florida 2018Bullet fragments remain in her face and legs. It is the deadliest mass murder by a single perpetrators in the history of Thailand. Jackie Matthews was in the sixth grade in Newtown, Connecticut, when a 20-year-old assailant shot and killed 26 students and faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Congresss refusal to act had shaped every aspect of her life. Photo: Sasha Arutyunova. The girl, a 6-year-old whose name is not being released for privacy reasons, was the first student to emerge from the lockdown at Sandy Hook, Solomon said. Sandy Hook survivors speak out for first time -- and share heartache 'that it keeps happening' ABC News sat down with four students who lived through the 2012 mass shooting. Educators teach peace and nonviolence. A Warner Bros. Survivors of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting boarded a bus in the parking lot of Newtown High School at 5 a.m. Saturday for the drive down to Washington, D.C., to join in the March . But this year, she has decided she wants to be a teacher at Sandy Hook School. Jones and his company Free Speech Systems have been found liable for $1.5 billion in two defamation trials over lies that Jones . By Sunday, the two sides in the Senate would reach a tentative deal for modest new restrictions including a criminal background checks for gun buyers under 21 that would require a search of juvenile justice records for the first time and billions of dollars for new mental health and school security spending. Dec. 14, 2018, marks six years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, as well as six adult staff members, were killed. And for Andrew, it meant nightmares in the immediate months after. Israel beefs up troops after unprecedented settler rampage, Ukrainian refugees in Poland will now be charged to stay in state-funded housing, This Colombian town is dimming its lights to attract more tourists to view the night sky, Kneel and apologize!: 76 years after island-wide massacre, Taiwan continues to commemorate and debate the tragedy. RT @K12ssdb: This week Katy Perry (@katyperry) and @AmericanIdol put a spotlight on one survivor's story. The lawmakers they had begged to listen ignored them, and the school shootings continued. It's been nearly nine years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting that rocked the U.S. in December of 2012, meaning that even those among the youngest survivors have recently entered high school. The mission of Sandy Hook Promise is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Dec. 14, 2018, marks six years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, as well as six adult staff members, were killed. A woman walks a child toward the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 15, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Touray buried her head in her hands, until at last she looked up. Despite the challenges that he has faced over the years, Walczak -- as well as Fuentes and Eastmond -- said they want others to know that shootings are preventable. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., did not pass the Senate -- one in a string of largely unsuccessful efforts at new gun laws in Congress in recent decades. "Kids shouldn't have to worry when they go to school," says Nicole, now 17 and a gun violence prevention advocate who spoke to PEOPLE ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Dec. 14, 2012 shooting. If you dont know what to look for, it can be easy to miss the signs, or dismiss them as unimportant. February 28, 2023. A teenager named Ashley who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 when 20 students and six adults perished in a horrific, brutal act of violence spoke . I want to be able to swim not in a sea of grief, she continued, before asking Congress to pass the new laws that March for Our Lives staffers had helped her work into the speech. Sandy Hook Promise, an organization founded by parents who lost their children to gun violence, has a new PSA showing the realities of life after a school shooting in hopes of preventing the next one "And the fact that we saw what happened at Sandy Hook, and we saw how many children died, and how affected the survivors were, and how the ripple effects of gun violence affect so many people," she said. "It sparked something in me," she says. ABC News' Martha Raddatz interviews Sandy Hook school shooting survivors. This package will come together quickly, or it wont come together at all, said Blumenthal, who was helping lead negotiations with Republicans. Fuentess message was on Tourays mind that night in her hotel room, where she left the bathroom light on because in Michigan she shared a bedroom with her younger sister and was sleeping alone for the first time since she was 4. More. "And there was no action after that.". She was fighting not to pass out. November 29th was the last good day, she said. But, like Fuentes, shed found that doing something helped soothe her anxiety. At least three of her schoolmates have died by suicide since the slaughter that left 17 dead inside Stoneman. When I was 9 and 10, I tried to forget it all. ***. This campaign continued past the PSA to further highlight the stories of our survivors. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Nicole Melchionno survived the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and doesn't want any other child . And also, dont lose hope.. Gomes, the Sandy Hook survivor, told . She stepped away from the microphone, relieved, until Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who was up next, took Tourays hands in his and led her back onto the stage. Nobody was in danger. All Rights Reserved. Just moved here, imagine that. The following narratives, written by survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting, provide intimate accounts of the transformative nature of trauma. Jacob said she came to realize the gravity of the situation -- and the immensity of the loss -- later, at a nearby fire station, where parents were looking to account for their children. President Barack Obama pauses during a speech at an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn., Dec 16, 2012. Registered 501(c)(3). With the reality of school shootings, Masi said it's important to have open conversations with students about their concerns. David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland, Fla. high school shooting and Craig Nason, a survivor of the 1999 Columbine massacre, . She is now the co-lead of the Upper Fairfield chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which includes Newtown and Sandy . Touray smiled, gratified that her question had elicited a thoughtful response, but she was also distracted, because a belligerent man on the steps behind her was screaming about government brainwashing. Out of respect for their privacy, ABC News is not using the survivors' last names. It was gunfire. The 10-year-old's father, Oscar, couldn . And if I'm somewhere that has stairs or something, it's very nerve-wracking because I am stuck there.". Despite the trauma that students, teachers and families have experienced from past mass shootings at schools across the country, folks at Sandy Hook Promise and survivors like Fuentes, Eastmond and Walczk, are hopeful that change will happen. Fuentes staggered toward her. Tear down the old school, but keep a school in Sandy Hook. Trembling in fear, Nicole huddled with her teacher and classmates next to their jackets and hats in their coat cubbies as the crack of gunfire echoed through the halls. After Emilie died, I remember going out to our car to say a prayer with my husband, and as we started the prayer the words came to my mind, that everything was going to be OK, and that Emilie was OK. Abbey Clements was the exact right person for her at that time. Noah Orona still had not cried. "Nothing's ever as simple as we see but there are things to do," Masi said. I had to do something to be part of the solution. Yes, the 18-year-old answered, smiling and extending her hand. , the local newspaper, in a front-page editorial on the five-year anniversary pointed out that, What we have learned is that not all good intentions came across as they were meant. It was an upsetting characterization of a community that has turned political points of view, hearts, schedules and philanthropic priorities inside out to support whomever needed it in the aftermath. We can no longer allow this to happen. We sit in the back of the room, she remembered. As a staff and individually, we navigated the push and pull of how to honor the dead, where to spend your time, how to volunteer, when to make your donations, how to manage your emotional capacity, when to care for yourself. He said the young girl described the shooter to her mom in a way that only a young child can. Touray had just started seeing a therapist, because fear had changed who she was, too. Go back to school right away, but dont go back too soon. 17-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting survivor Cyrena Arokium speaks with "CNN This Morning" ten years after the shooting that left 20 first-graders and six adults dead. Those bonds remain strong today. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. All Rights Reserved. The shrapnel buried in her muscles made it hard to stand for too long. I dont think the same thing is necessarily going to work, Fuentes said afterward, sitting on a stone bench outside Murphys office as Touray listened. "Ten years and two months ago, I survived the Sandy . Solomon said the girl's family was suffering survivor's guilt because many of their friends were not as lucky and had lost children in the tragedy. 1 of 3. "They started lining kids up by class in the fire house so they could start to sign them out to parents," Jacob said. I just got here and theres so many people and now Im speaking, she wrote in another text, before her mom called. She felt the same about seeing old friends from other gun safety organizations. The following narratives, written by survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting and excerpted from the book If I Dont Make It, I Love You (Skyhorse, 2019), provide intimate accounts of the transformative nature of trauma in the aftermath of a school shooting. All shared in the dismay and frustration they feel watching more school shootings occur. For more on Nicole Melchionno and the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday. Just calm down. In so many ways, Mrs. Clements brought my daughter back to us. The teens and young adults in the video, it turns out, are survivors of some of the worst school shootings in the nation's history, who have experienced varying degrees of physical . It was nice of him to say, Touray thought, but she didnt really agree. How James Harden is helping an MSU shooting survivor . Design by Irfan Uraizee. Nine years ago, Walczak was at school when one of his classmates opened fire at him and three of his friends. This story originally appeared on 12.15.21. Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, across the street from the location of Monday's Michigan State University Shooting, 21-year-old Jackie Matthews took to TikTok, with an emotional video reflection about "the second mass shooting I've lived through.". Then it was time for them to join the others on stage. Ultimately, music therapy would prove to be the most effective. 1 / 7. Fuentes was studying film at Hunter College in New York and worked at a jewelry wholesaler in Manhattan, but activism had long felt like her real job. They were among the most important figures in the fight for reform, Touray had just learned. But it was the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in May which killed 19 students and two teachers that moved her to take action. 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