Gomes, the Sandy Hook survivor, told . 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 . "I think for teachers, they are that first line of defense in the school, they really know their students," Masi said. Fuentes understood. Teacher with Mother's Gun, Police Say: Could Mom Face Charges. Maggie lost her best friend, Daniel Barden. Everything was fine. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? For more on Nicole Melchionno, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day. Today, Sandy Hook Promise -- a nonprofit organization led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 -- released a video of survivors of school shootings reciting lyrics from Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" to show others that for victims of school shootings, the teenage dream is not what it used to be. I continue to teach at another school in Newtown, trying to build a generation of empathetic problem solvers. 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. Im sorry that youre part of the club that none of us want to be part of, he said. That promise that everything was going to be OK. But Murphy urged Fuentes, Touray and the other activists to keep doing what theyd been doing. . Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. A powerful new public service announcement is raising awareness about gun violence in a unique way. "That's a thought that probably does not go away," Raddatz told her. 2 min read. The joy of her conquering her greatest fear, is beyond my adult comprehension. Theres training for a wild animal in the school, for high wind, for an active shooter. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Getty/The Washington Post). Subscribe to our newsletter to get updates on gun violence prevention. Mary Ann Jacob, a library clerk at Sandy Hook Elementary, also detailed her experience to ABC News. Now Touray and Fuentes decided to get a photo together in front of a blue background adorned in March for Our Lives logos. Touray buried her head in her hands, until at last she looked up. 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. Touray and Fuentes had just made it through security at the Hart Senate Office Building, passing inside a metal detector monitored by three armed guards, when a roller on the X-ray machine came loose, slamming against the tile floor. And when she cried and told Abbey she missed Ms. Soto Mrs. Clements simply held her and said, I do too.. Theres no training for navigating the. Nine years ago, Walczak was at school when one of his classmates opened fire at him and three of his friends. 1 / 7. 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. 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. Shed gone to funeral after funeral, staring into open caskets at swollen faces that looked nothing like the kids she knew. ", Among the heartbreak for Maggie, a gruesome realization: "I didn't know that these sounds I was listening to was my friend being murdered.". 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Isabelle LaymanceSanta Fe, Texas 2018Hid in closet with eight classmates. Design by Irfan Uraizee. Among the most memorable to appear was Sam Fuentes, then a senior at Douglas who a month earlier had been shot in the leg and struck in the face with shrapnel. These subsequent months and years are the more difficult phase, the fraught part two. "I couldn't handle it," she said. With tears and blood streaming from her eyes, she had watched two of her friends die. The father of the youngest child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre was given a full facial disguise before a television appearance . Fuentes has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. He said the young girl described the shooter to her mom in a way that only a young child can. Dec 14, 2018, 12:51 PM EST. "I was just thinking about all the families that are in their houses right now, telling their children that their siblings and that their friends and their classmates are gone," Maggie, another student, told Raddatz. The sun rises over Newtown, Conn., Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. This is my song, shed said to at least three different songs. Experiencing the trauma of one school shooting is one too many. 28 Feb 2023 17:55:53 They were all so smart and determined. Gun violence destroys people, families, neighborhoods, communities, schools, districts, towns, friendships, marriages, livelihoods and so much more. She has wisdom beyond her years.". 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. "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. Many experts who all told us they knew the solution. "I think it's impossible outside of divine intervention. They could hold hands. Nobody was in danger. Living through two is utterly incomprehensible. Walczak was shot four times and the last bullet paralyzed him. I feel like I cannot breathe right now.. They were among the most important figures in the fight for reform, Touray had just learned. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking news? Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry and somebody who she felt was mad. 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. I cant speak for you or what happened at Oxford, he told her, his tone serious. 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. On Sunday night's episode of American Idol, Santa Fe High School shooting survivor Trey Louis auditioned with "Stone" by Whiskey Myers. Gradually the mind kicks back in and then decisions and realities came one after another. We are grateful that our bodies and the bodies of our children are whole and we strive to support those who are not. We learned then that other mass shooting survivors would offer us the best glimpse of how to navigate the path we were on. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. And it will get better. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. appreciated. Sandy Hook survivor speaks out 10 years later, 17-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting survivor Cyrena Arokium speaks with "CNN This Morning", Children from Ukraine are being used in Russia's pro-war rally, This disease took decades to plummet. Its people like you.. "I thought I was never going to see my family again," she says. In the end, beyond family, it was the love of Mrs. Clements, a teacher, that softened my daughters heart and opened her mind. We are, he said. By DAVE COLLINS and PAT EATON-ROBB. She had 18. One moment in particular -- too graphic for words -- has stuck with Jackie, who was a second grader at the time. Survivors and families of those killed in the Sandy Hook shooting say the incident is . As Touray readied to go on stage, rehearsing the lines in her mind, Fuentes sat in the distance, beneath the shade of a white oak. ", More determined than ever to make meaningful change, she says, "I'm trying to turn my anxiety and frustration into purpose by working on this issue.". Two Connecticut State Police officers escort a class of students and two adults out of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, 2012, after a shooter entered the building and killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. His older brother Nick was killed. It can generally be healthy and meaningful to speak out about your experiences. In between her activism, she is a regular teenager, spending time with her friends, going to the movies and hitting the local Starbucks. Hegarty, a Sandy Hook survivor, lost 20 young classmates and six educators in that shooting, which marks its somber 10th remembrance this year. #TheTeenageDream http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/teenagedream**. EIN: 46-1657101. Detroit Free Press. And there were many experts. 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. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Were you watching the live stream? one of them was saying on the phone. People wanted to help me forget, because a loud noise would go off and Id get so upset that I couldnt breathe, or even think. So she ignored her dread and got on the plane. I had to do something to be part of the solution. 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. Her mother encouraged her to speak up, so she did. Fuentes staggered toward her. 311,000 students have seen gun violence at school since Columbine. "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. Now on the cusp of adulthood, the . We subsequently also met with members of the Amish community who had suffered their own tragedy about five years earlier. Support grief this way, but not that way. But I work two full-time jobs to try to change that. 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. Shed heard of Parkland, but knew almost nothing about it. All Rights Reserved. I think Im going to throw up, Touray said, rushing into a white tent nearby. 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. "I think what we know just needs to come to fruition.". "I couldn't get the sounds out of my head during the night," he told ABC News. How James Harden is helping an MSU shooting survivor . Jackie Matthews, a 21-year-old senior at MSU and a Sandy Hook survivor, is one such student. Then, after Oxford, Touray was invited to talk about what shed been through at a state event. Keep doing what theyd been doing sign up for PEOPLE 's free True crime newsletter for crime... On gun violence prevention suffered their own tragedy about five years earlier felt was angry and somebody who she was! On the plane best glimpse of how to navigate the path we were sandy hook survivor samantha... 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