On February 2, 2025, my life changed forever. I was working security when a shooting occurred. I was shot five times and witnessed my boss lose his life. In a matter of seconds, everything I knew changed. I went from protecting others to fighting for my own survival. The physical injuries were significant, but the emotional impact was something I could not fully understand until much later.
Recovery was far more than learning how to walk again or healing physical wounds. It was learning how to trust the world again. There were difficult days filled with pain, fear, grief, and uncertainty. Recovery wasn’t a straight line. Some days felt like progress, while others felt like setbacks. I had to learn patience with myself and accept that healing takes time.
At the state, I wish I knew that healing isn’t a race. I spent a lot of time frustrated because I wanted to recover faster. Looking back, I understand that recovery happens one day, one step, and sometimes one breath at a time.
I never wanted what happened to me to be meaningless. If sharing my story can help one person feel less alone, then something positive can come from my experience. Trauma can feel incredibly isolating, and I wanted others to know that healing is possible, even when it feels impossible.
A major turning point was when I stopped asking, “Why did this happen to me?” and started asking, “What can I do with this experience?” That shift allowed me to move from simply surviving to finding purpose in my recovery.
Hope helped me push through recovery. Hope. Even on the hardest days, I believed there was still a future worth fighting for. My family, my goals, my faith, and the desire to help others gave me reasons to keep going. My family was my foundation throughout recovery. They stood by me during the hardest days and never gave up on me. I was also fortunate to have support from friends, medical professionals, and fellow survivors who understood parts of my journey that others couldn’t.
I learned that I am stronger than I ever knew. Before this experience, I thought strength meant being independent and having everything under control. Now I understand that strength also means asking for help, being vulnerable, and continuing forward even when you’re scared.
Community has been everything. Recovery is not something you do alone. The support from family, friends, healthcare professionals, fellow survivors, and organizations like the Trauma Survivors Network reminded me that I wasn’t fighting this battle by myself. Human connection helped me heal in ways medicine alone never could.
The injuries people can see are often only part of the story. The emotional recovery can be just as challenging as the physical recovery. Be patient with survivors. Healing continues long after the hospital stay ends. Being a survivor means more than making it through a traumatic event. It means choosing to keep living, growing, and finding purpose afterward. Survival is not just about staying alive; it’s about refusing to let trauma define the rest of your story.
There are still physical reminders of what happened, and some emotional wounds take longer to heal. Certain sounds, memories, or situations can bring me right back to that day. I stay grounded by focusing on gratitude, maintaining supportive relationships, serving others, and reminding myself how far I’ve come instead of how far I still have to go.
There wasn’t one single moment that made me redefine what it means to live fully after trauma. It was a series of moments. Returning to work, graduating from my paralegal studies program, leading crisis intervention trainings, sharing my story publicly, and making plans for my future again. I realized living fully wasn’t about getting my old life back. It was about building a meaningful new life.
Right now, you may feel scared, overwhelmed, angry, or uncertain about what comes next. Those feelings are normal. Give yourself grace. Healing takes time, and it’s okay to ask for help. There will be difficult days, but there will also be victories—some small, some life-changing. Don’t focus on how far you have to go. Focus on the next step in front of you. You are stronger than you realize, and your story is not over.
