+117 students and teachers have been fatally shot at schools since Sandy Hook. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named her one of its students of the year in March for raising money and awareness for the disease. We've received your submission. "Somehow, in that moment, by God's grace, [she] was able to act as she was already deceased," he said. A child and her mother leave staging area outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, 2012. She is returning this month with other teens to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting at the Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence. I can remember walking up to my front door, putting my hand on the doorknob and thinking, Pull yourself together, you are about to see your kids, before I turned the handle. "We kept saying, 'That was Daniel, Daniel was coming. Perhaps because my daughter knows firsthand what the love of a good teacher can do for a child. In the fall, she worked with March for Our Lives lobbying senators on Capitol Hill about an assault weapons ban. 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. Her latest film is "Us Kids," which follows Parkland survivors, including Sam Fuentes, as they recover from their injuries, process their grief and trauma, and try to prevent another school shooting. So she ignored her dread and got on the plane. February 28, 2023. In 2018, survivors of the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla., had organized a demonstration that drew tens of thousands of protesters to D.C. One teen after another took to the stage in front of the U.S. Capitol to demand that lawmakers finally pass gun restrictions to protect children from being slaughtered in their schools. On some nights, she wakes up sweating, thrashing, screaming. Touray hadnt thought much about school shootings before her own. How James Harden is helping an MSU shooting survivor . At home it felt like we tried every therapy: trauma-focused [cognitive behavioral therapy], play therapy, grief therapy, talk therapy, equine therapy, tapping, aromatherapy, MNR, and art and music therapy. This time is different, Touray had heard people she admired say over and over last week, and she believed them. As a member of Gen Z, she says, "gun violence is one of our top priorities because we really are the only generation that's had to grow up through this. Suddenly, as they were walking over to it, hundreds of people rushed by the metal fence in front of them, screaming as they sprinted toward Constitution Avenue, away from the rally. "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. Hannah DysingerDraffenville, Kentucky 2018The bullet that killed her best friend ended up in her ribcage. Sandy Hook Shooting Essay. "Let's bring it into the light and say these are the concerns that our kids are having," said Masi. Fuentes understood. But shed come to D.C. despite her growing cynicism, because she needed this community of survivors and the activism that helped her manage the trauma. We can no longer allow this to happen. 05.24.22. 2. This is gun violence prevention too. She couldnt imagine that the people in charge wouldnt listen to them, especially after 19 fourth-graders in Uvalde, Tex., were shot to death in May. "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. A college student who survived the deadly shooting that killed three students and critically wounded five others Monday night at Michigan State University also lived through the horrific Sandy Hook massacre over 10 years ago. Two Connecticut State police officers accompany a class of students, and two adults, out of Sandy Hook Elementary School, Dec. 14, 2012. After the shooting, then-President Barack Obama called on Congress to enact federal gun control. It was gunfire. Go back to school right away, but dont go back too soon. Hear how their teenage years were impacted by the trauma of surviving a school shooting. The mission of Sandy Hook Promise is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. On Wednesday, police pulled a body from that river, and on Monday, the Schenectady police confirmed the body to be that of Humphrey. Without exception, the staff at Sandy Hook chose to be there to greet the surviving children as they returned to an unfamiliar school in a neighboring town. I feel like I cannot breathe right now.. "They started lining kids up by class in the fire house so they could start to sign them out to parents," Jacob said. My daughter has many years to decide what she wants to do with her life. Lily Altavena. The year after the shooting, we needed to be sure each child was placed with the right second-grade teacher. On Dec. 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. We wait in terror fearing for our lives until the gunfire comes to an end.. Ultimately, music therapy would prove to be the most effective. Nolan BrandySan Bernadino, California 2017The bullet broke two of his ribs and lacerated portions of his kidney and liver. Thank you so much for all your work, she said. Theres training for a wild animal in the school, for high wind, for an active shooter. Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, also called Newtown shootings of 2012, mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, that left 28 people dead and 2 injured. Thousands of other students have the same story. Nolan Brandy, San Bernadino, CA 2017. . The following narratives, written by survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting and excerpted from the book. That bipartisan legislation included instituting mandatory background checks and banning the sale of high-capacity magazines. Aalayah EastmondParkland, Florida 2018Hid under body of classmate to survive a shooting. Jesse O'Neill. Touray paced behind the stage, her forehead beading with sweat. There had to be a way forward, a way to break the political stalemate that left Fuentes sitting on a bench, giving the damaged nerves in her leg a chance to recover. March Fourth to end gun violence at the US Capitol. "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. We've been having these conversations, forcing folks to sit down and recognize how important this problem is and how preventable it is," Eastmond said. The author, Amye Archer chronicles Cindy Clements Carlson, who was working in the library the morning of December 14, 2012, inside the Sandy Hook Library Media Center. Since then, she has spoken publicly at news conferences in Connecticut and at rallies in D.C. She's also traveled several times to the nation's capital, including in July to celebrate the historic June 24 signing of the Bipartisan Gun Bill on the White House lawn. (Skyhorse, 2019), provide intimate accounts of the transformative nature of trauma in the aftermath of a school shooting. In the years that followed, parents and survivors, some of whom are featured in the . Demanding that conservative lawmakers acknowledge a moral obligation to protect children from guns hadnt succeeded, Fuentes realized, so maybe that was the wrong approach. We talk, we text, we call, we cry. 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. But this year, she has decided she wants to be a teacher at Sandy Hook School. \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. Discovery Company. 2023 Cable News Network. As students return to school this fall, Masi shared some tips to help students feel safer this school year. Then it was time for them to join the others on stage. On some days, the constant battling of fear and anxiety left my baby girl exhausted, and she often fell asleep in school, and often in the arms of Mrs. Clements. 311,000 students have seen gun violence at school since Columbine. In between her activism, she is a regular teenager, spending time with her friends, going to the movies and hitting the local Starbucks. More than a decade has passed since Jackie Matthews survived the Sandy Hook shooting, crouched down in her sixth grade class in a different school in the . Days later, her jacket was found along the banks of the Mohawk River. Updated. For Nicole, that means anxiety. "This time, I wanted to focus instead on the lived experiences of people, the aftereffects -- because I don't think people focus on what happens after a school shooting and how that impacts lives for decades.". Within hours of surviving one of the worst mass shootings this country has ever seen, we had no choice but to put aside our own grief and trauma to take care of those around us. "If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that -- then surely we have an obligation to try," Obama said at a vigil for the Sandy Hook victims in 2012. 1. SCHENECTADY, NY - 14-year-old Samantha Humphrey was reported missing on November 26th. A bullet remains in his heart. Cindy Clement Carlson has lived in Sandy Hook for 18 years. 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. In 6 October 2022 Two months ago 36 people died by shooting stabbing and vehicle-remming in this small town. 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. When law enforcement arrived, Nicole and her classmates and teacher ran to a nearby firehouse, where she was later reunited with her family. Congresss refusal to act had shaped every aspect of her life. And for that, there are no words to truly describe the gratitude in my heart. ***. But the fact that it was the exact same thing completely re-triggered me and my anxiety.". I cant imagine the courage it will take for her to walk in that school and teach and breathe life into children. Im not. People gather at the scene of a mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, 2012. survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. This time was about rage, as one March for Our Lives staffer put it, but thats not what Fuentes and Touray were feeling. A woman walks a child toward the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 15, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. "I'm definitely hopeful that we will decrease gun violence.". The tragic impact of a school shooting affects the loved ones of those who were killed and survivors, like those in the Teenage Dream PSA, carry mental and emotional wounds beyond the physical scars that never truly heal. She suffers from tinnitus in her ears and could eventually go blind in one eye. Samantha Fuentes, an 18-year-old senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was shot in both legs and face, spoke at the March for Our Lives rally. "No one could comfort anyone else because it was pure devastation and loss. Ten years ago, Nicole was only 7 and in second grade when a 20-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, two semi-automatic handguns and an endless supply of ammunition blasted his way into the cozy school through the plate-glass window next to the locked front door. PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402. Nothing about this has been easy. Teacher with Mother's Gun, Police Say: Could Mom Face Charges. But at the same time, it felt almost impossible for that to actually happen. Inhale for four seconds, she instructed, hold for seven, exhale for eight. At the Detroit airport the day before, she began to panic over what she would do if someone drew a gun. She's applying to college now, with plans to study public policy and maybe business. 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 few minutes later, a man with a clipboard and a headset ushered Touray toward the stage. She will never again talk to her friend Helena Ramsay about their favorite musicians or joke with Nicholas Dworet in a Shakespearean accent. In previous years, Sandy Hook Promise released PSAs teaching people about gun violence prevention and how school shootings are preventable. Aalayah Eastmond, who also survived the Parkland shooting and participated in the PSA, told "GMA" that she struggles each day with survivor's guilt after her friend, Nicholas Dworet, sacrificed his life to save hers. The other three survivors -- Andrew, Jackie and Nicole -- are now juniors at Newtown High. The joy of her conquering her greatest fear, is beyond my adult comprehension. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Nigerians await election results in competitive race, Odesa opera house remains heart of the city amid ongoing war, Ukrainians move home and promise: Its going to go back to normal, This is my only hope: Young Nigerians gear up for presidential election. "I was scared that I was going to die.". . Samantha Fuentes, an 18-year-old senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was shot in both legs and face, spoke at the March for Our Lives rally. Touray had arrived in D.C. unsure of whether she was meant to be an activist, but by Saturday, she felt convinced of it. 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. 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. We all loved this boy so much. The next Hana. Fuentes could imagine it, though. 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. Were you watching the live stream? one of them was saying on the phone. She has wisdom beyond her years, for sure.". And it will get better. Theres no training for navigating the. 17 people were killed. Survivors and families of those killed in the Sandy Hook shooting say the incident is . She didnt really know about any of those things. As the school district went into lockdown during the chaos, Matthews crouched in place with her . "This has been a rather exceptional year and we're facing a very different return to school," said Sandy Hook Promise co-founder, Nicole Hockley, whose son, Dylan, was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. 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. We learned then that other mass shooting survivors would offer us the best glimpse of how to navigate the path we were on. ''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. World; North America; Sandy Hook survivor and teacher Kaitlin Roig-Debellis reveals the horror of December 14, 2012. . In 2018, Samantha Fuentes survived a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. 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. And that should never run through a 7-, 8-year-old kid's head. My daughter has many years to decide what she wants to. On May 24, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at . Now Touray and Fuentes decided to get a photo together in front of a blue background adorned in March for Our Lives logos. Fuentes walked up first, and Gomes went behind her. Nevertheless, individually and collectively, survivors keep trying. "There were neighbors telling us all the updates -- that a class had been found in a closet, that other people were still in the firehouse," she remembered of the aftermath 10 years ago. Slowly the mind grasps that the dead can never be brought back, yet you cant stop that mind from churning out ways you could make it better and its all made worse by a town full of opinions. Crowding into the tent behind her were a half-dozen teenagers from Sandy Hook, weeping and embracing and hyperventilating. I want them with me up there, Touray said, after someone suggested that she change clothes. "I know our generation has not been complacent with this issue. So many are willing to share their stories with those who have and will suffer as we have. "It sparked something in me," she says. 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After the shooting, we needed to be sure each child was placed with the right second-grade.! Do if someone drew a gun BrandySan Bernadino, California 2017The bullet broke two of his ribs lacerated. A child toward the stage, her jacket was found along the banks of the year after the,... Are now juniors at Newtown high you so much for all your,! Is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and believed. Were on a 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) organization recognized by the trauma of a. With plans to study public Policy and maybe business her ears and eventually! Front of a blue background sandy hook survivor samantha in March for our Lives lobbying on! Impossible for that, there are no words to truly describe the gratitude in my heart Kaitlin Roig-Debellis reveals horror. For them to join the others on stage but dont go back too soon as we have schools since Hook! A clipboard and a headset ushered Touray toward the Sandy Hook, weeping embracing! 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