Fuentes has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. You can focus on your healing and take care of yourself, honestly, Pressley said. "I think it's really important for, whether it's teachers, staff, parents to really become that trusted adult in a student's life that a student can come to them with their concerns, that they will be heard, they will be listened to. In the end, beyond family, it was the love of Mrs. Clements, a teacher, that softened my daughters heart and opened her mind. So many are willing to share their stories with those who have and will suffer as we have. The lawmakers they had begged to listen ignored them, and the school shootings continued. Now a senior at MSU, Matthews was a student at Reed Intermediate School in Newtown, Conn., which was placed on lockdown on Dec. 14, 2012 when gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 students and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary school, which is just over the highway. Six staff members, all female, were also killed. He would have turned 18 that day. Now Touray and Fuentes decided to get a photo together in front of a blue background adorned in March for Our Lives logos. She didnt see any exits. Chase YarbroughSanta Fe, Texas 2018Shot six times. Nicole Melchionno survived the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and doesn't want any other child to have to endure the nightmare she did. In the years that followed, parents and survivors, some of whom are featured in the accounts below, have dedicated their lives to fighting for change. "Somehow, in that moment, by God's grace, [she] was able to act as she was already deceased," he said. When Nicole, who was just a girl when she survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a decade ago, first heard about the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, she broke down in tears. If you dont know what to look for, it can be easy to miss the signs, or dismiss them as unimportant. This campaign continued past the PSA to further highlight the stories of our survivors. In so many ways, Mrs. Clements brought my daughter back to us. They were among the most important figures in the fight for reform, Touray had just learned. Aalayah EastmondParkland, Florida 2018Hid under body of classmate to survive a shooting. We can no longer be complacent.. "There was glass and obviously blood and I didn't want to step on anything. 05.24.22. I had to do something to be part of the solution. Sherlach, Sandy Hook Elementary's school psychologist, was with Hochsprung when they heard a "pop, pop, pop" sound around 9:30 a.m., a parent who was with both women . 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Perhaps because my daughter knows firsthand what the love of a good teacher can do for a child. Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. "And there was no action after that.". Pressleys words left Touray feeling hopeful, even after a more somber meeting with Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, who told the group that he wasnt sure whether the Senate would pass any new legislation, and if they did, it wouldnt include many of the items they wanted most. The joy of her conquering her greatest fear, is beyond my adult comprehension. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. On May 24, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at . "When we ran to our cubbies to hide, I remember thinking, you know, I should hide to the back of the classroom, to the other side, so that I don't get shot. This is her story. When the time came to return to school a few weeks later, the staff and the teachers were once again faced with the choice of whether to take care of ourselves or others. Sandy Hook survivor Isaiah Mrquez-Greene writes "Note To Self" 06:30 Wednesday marks 10 years since a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 26 people . Courtesy Jane Dougherty. By Pamela Rosenthal. "The truth is that gun violence is in everybody's backyard across the nation," Fuentes said. Nevertheless, individually and collectively, survivors keep trying. She loved reconnecting, but what almost always brought them together was another massacre. Touray leaned against a chain-link fence and closed her eyes, placing a hand on her forehead. "We kept saying, 'That was Daniel, Daniel was coming. They were all so smart and determined. \u201cA survivor of the Sandy Hook School mass shooting in 2012 is a student at Michigan State University: \u201cI am 21-years-old and this is the second mass shooting I\u2019ve lived through. I want them with me up there, Touray said, after someone suggested that she change clothes. "It's like the epitome of what you imagine -- the typical teenage American life, the carefree worries of what that era of your experience is. "I know our generation has not been complacent with this issue. We are grateful that our bodies and the bodies of our children are whole and we strive to support those who are not. There's no handbook on how to survive a school shooting and what to do afterwards.". I really need you to hype me up this rally is huge, she texted her mother from behind a tall black sign that read, DONT LOOK AWAY.. "Nothing's ever as simple as we see but there are things to do," Masi said. I know, Fuentes replied, and both of them laughed. In the fall, she worked with March for Our Lives lobbying senators on Capitol Hill about an assault weapons ban. It has to happen in days, not weeks.. The mission of Sandy Hook Promise is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. +117 students and teachers have been fatally shot at schools since Sandy Hook. Nolan BrandySan Bernadino, California 2017The bullet broke two of his ribs and lacerated portions of his kidney and liver. "That's a thought that probably does not go away," Raddatz told her. She will graduate from Newtown High School next week. Some of us were able to connect with support while others were not. ''I have to navigate every single day -- while also struggling and dealing with survivor's guilt -- which is the biggest hurdle to try and overcome in this process. So she ignored her dread and got on the plane. Photo editing by Mark Miller and Mark Gail. There were no Hollywood celebrities leading chants, no pop stars belting anthems. "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. Paralyzed from waist down. Sandy Hook School Girl Plays Dead, Survives Elementary Shooting; Pastor Jim Solomon Recounts Story (VIDEO) . Only making a real difference would. Pastor Jim Solomon told ABC News:"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. *** These videos contain sensitive content related to gun violence that may be triggering for some viewers. Why is everyone running? Fuentes asked, voice quavering, her eyes wide and watery. I cant imagine the courage it will take for her to walk in that school and teach and breathe life into children. She had been invited to speak at an event hosted by Moms Demand Action in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool, but she hadnt understood until she and Fuentes arrived that hundreds of people and dozens of cameras would be watching her. Fuentes could imagine it, though. With tears and blood streaming from her eyes, she had watched two of her friends die. "I was scared that I was going to die.". I think it's impossible outside of divine intervention. What Touray didnt say: Theyd escaped through a window and ran. Touray buried her head in her hands, until at last she looked up. CLICK HERE to read about the 'hero teacher,' the principal and 20 children who lost their lives. In 6 October 2022 Two months ago 36 people died by shooting stabbing and vehicle-remming in this small town. How difficult the aftermath is, and the decisions it entails, hasnt been easily understood. #TheTeenageDream http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/teenagedream**. "They started lining kids up by class in the fire house so they could start to sign them out to parents," Jacob said. 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. The . The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. Look under the hood, and take a behind the scenes look at how longform journalism is made. Im hoping that you do it this time, though, Touray said, sensing Hoggs exhaustion after what had already been a frustrating week of discussions with lawmakers. "I couldn't get the sounds out of my head during the night," he told ABC News. Those bonds remain strong today. And that was why, as the summer heat climbed above 80, she refused to take off the black sweatshirt that listed each of their names: Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling. Theres training for a wild animal in the school, for high wind, for an active shooter. The survivors here illustrate how theyve practiced healing, forgiveness and faith in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. Subscribe to Must Reads. "The intercom was left on, so everything was amplified," she says. Annie Reneau. Andrew told ABC News that the government and the nation "know the solutions" to stopping more mass violence, pointing to proposed limitations on magazines for ammunition and age restrictions for purchasing assault-style weapons. She had learned over the past four years that guns were central to many Americans identities, but shed also learned that lots of gun safety laws could protect those people and their children from harm without stripping them of something they cherish. She and three other student survivors, as well as a school employee there that day, detailed their experience and the effects that day still has on them in an interview that aired Sunday with "This Week" co-anchor and Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz. On stage, a speaker announced that people needed to stop running. Cindy Clement Carlson was in the library at the time of the shooting. In 2020, when she was a sophomore, she joined the Junior Newtown Action Alliance, which is part of the local gun violence prevention group Newtown Action Alliance, and became its legislative coordinator the following year. But this year, as students return back to school, the nonprofit's leaders said it was important to open up a conversation about how school shootings impact the lives of survivors. 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 . Now Im floating. She will never again talk to her friend Helena Ramsay about their favorite musicians or joke with Nicholas Dworet in a Shakespearean accent. . It was easier not to have any decisions to make. Then, after Oxford, Touray was invited to talk about what shed been through at a state event. The school shooting survivors had come from all over the country, each of them hoping that this time would be different. Mary Ann Jacob, a library clerk at Sandy Hook Elementary, also detailed her experience to ABC News. A Warner Bros. Its just a cowinkidence. Nolan Brandy, San Bernadino, CA 2017. . A brave six-year-old became the sole survivor of her first grade class at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. because she played dead as shooter Adam Lanza went on his rampage. When she was 14 years old, Gabby Petito starred in a music video titled "Irreplaceable" to help spread awareness about violence against children after the Sandy Hook massacre. "It makes me angry, because it doesn't have to keep happening," Jacob, the Sandy Hook library clerk, told ABC News. The lone survivor of one of the two Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade classrooms where Adam Lanza allegedly shot and killed 20 children tricked the gunman by playing dead, the girl's pastor said. ***. "It just really broke me to know that after 10 years of everyone giving us their thoughts and prayers, after 10 years of everyone saying, 'Enough is enough,' and, 'Never again after Sandy Hook' -- it happened again.". 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. A staffer guided her to a bench beneath the 51-foot-tall black steel sculpture in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building, where Hogg was finishing up a photo shoot for an upcoming magazine profile. Nothing about this has been easy. The mission of Sandy Hook Promise is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. She had 18. My daughter has many years to decide what she wants to. A survivor of the Sandy Hook School mass shooting in 2012 is a student at Michigan State University: "I am 21-years-old and this is the second mass shooting I've lived through. But being in big crowds and "not knowing if someone has a gun can re-trigger me at times," she says. Shed just graduated from Michigans Oxford High, where four students were killed in November, including one of Tourays closest friends. We knew it wasn't a drill," Jackie recalled. The lone survivor of one of the two Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade classrooms where Adam Lanza allegedly shot and killed 20 children tricked the gunman by playing dead, the girl's pastor . Samantha FuentesParkland, Florida 2018Bullet fragments remain in her face and legs. "Our students are having feelings of loss of sense of safety, where that is different from past generations it's a different experience," Dr. Rachel Masi, a clinical psychologist and director of research at Sandy Hook Promise, said. Photo: Sasha Arutyunova. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Maggie lost her best friend, Daniel Barden. And if I'm somewhere that has stairs or something, it's very nerve-wracking because I am stuck there.". God, why am I still crying? Touray asked, embarrassed, as she followed the group toward a waiting area near the stairs. The following narratives, written by survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting and excerpted from the book. Hegarty, a Sandy Hook survivor, lost 20 young classmates and six educators in that shooting, which marks its somber 10th remembrance this year. People who are at risk of hurting themselves or others often show warning signs before an act of violence takes place. 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