The children, now teenagers, who survived the Sandy Hook primary school massacre in the United States, spoke to the program 12 years later Good Morning America about this traumatic event which marked their childhood.
“His gun jammed and a friend yelled at me to run and we did,” Emma Ehrens, 17, told ABC News’ morning show Tuesday.
She was only six years old the day a gunman entered her classroom and began shooting at her colleagues and teacher.
Emma Ehrens was reading a book in front of the class when the individual in his twenties positioned himself next to her to “fall” all of his “friends” one by one.
Today, young people are preparing to finish high school, even though they were only in their first year of primary school in 2012, when a shooter killed 20 of their colleagues and six members. of the staff of this school in Newtown, Connecticut.
“It’s difficult because you have these important moments in your life, things that are supposed to be so exciting, but they are overshadowed by this,” the teenager testified. “It’s something we wish we’d never experienced.”
“When we lined up as a cohort, we were missing half of our cohort, so it was very difficult,” said Grace Fischer, another survivor.
To this day, the Sandy Hook shooting remains one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.
“In our hearts forever”
Although the years have removed them from this tragic ordeal, some still bear the scars.
“I have the name of a friend tattooed on my shoulder so that he can be with me every day,” said Henry Terifay, 18 years old. “I try to remember (those who were killed) every day.”
As she prepares to turn this page of her story at her graduation, Ella Seaver, who was seven years old on December 14, 2012, said she still has difficulty talking about this event.
“It’s still, even more than 10 years later, very difficult to try to dig into his memories because of the level of pain and trauma,” she said. “I’ve been in therapy most of my life, especially after the shooting, and it really helped me cope with the event and learn about myself. I’d like to try to pay it forward by helping people who are survivors of gun violence, or who haven’t necessarily experienced gun violence, but struggle with issues every day.”
Students in the 2024 cohort will wear, during their graduation, a green ribbon in honor of those who lost their lives in this terrible episode, according to information from CNN.
On the fabric will be written: “In our hearts forever”.
