The survivors of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School want to have an impact and share hope with the children who survived the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. They hope by inspiring the Texas survivors, they can give them the energy and motivation to go on. 

The Sandy Hook Elementary School survivors have suffered through trauma, grief, and pain. They say that hope is the only thing that keeps them going. They’ve gone through shock, lack of feeling, and PTSD. Many survivors have anxiety and guilt, as well as frustration and anger because shootings continue to happen all over America. 

Ashley Hubner, who is now 17-years-old, was in the second grade at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, when the massacre occurred. She witnessed 20 children and six educators get killed. She said, “It’s been nine years since Sandy Hook, and we had nine years for this to not happen again. And yet it did. And now these kids are going to have to go through the same thing. That’s just, like, heartbreaking.”

The Uvalde Robb Elementary School was a striking reminder for Sandy Hook survivors because of the similarities between the two shootings. Some of the survivors are relating their sad stories for the first time, and they want to have an impact on the children of Uvalde, Texas, who are returning to school this week. 

Marie Gay is a survivor who was nine-years-old when she became a witness of the murder of 26 victims, including her sister and friends. She said,“Initially, I thought it was a bear, the gunshots, and I don’t know. We lived in rural Connecticut. I heard them, and my first thought was, Oh, there’s a bear just banging on the walls of the school.”

Marie also said that the shooting in Uvalde brought up many feelings for her even though her teachers had tried to protect her from her memories. Her struggles with grief have caused her to want to help other people and fight for gun control.

Liv, in the third grade at the time of the Sandy Hook shootings, joined her classmates in an effort to get to a safe area when they heard the first gunshot in their classroom. Initially, the children thought it was a joke. But they soon found out what was happening and the nightmare started. The teacher had put paper on the windows and doors to hide sight of the children, but the papers had fallen down. In spite of her nightmarish memories, Liv tries to share the lesson that survivors should focus on healing. 

Liv is now a college student, and she acknowledges that the childhood incident made her grow up fast. 

“I don’t think anyone, no matter your age, should have to go through something like that,” she said. “But kids are not equipped to deal with stuff like that. No one is, but especially kids.”

Every survivor of the Sandy Hook elementary school has a story and lesson to share with the children of Uvalde, Texas.