"We all have moments in our lives that stick out in our minds—monumental and sometimes life-altering experiences when you can remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and even what was said in a certain moment.
Next Monday will have been 10 years since one of those moments happened, when, on April 20, 1999, at around 11 a.m., Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School armed with guns, knives, and explosives. The rampage left 12 students and a teacher dead and 23 people wounded. That day, the intensity lasted for about 50 minutes as students and faculty fled the school grounds through doors and windows, escaping whatever way they could.
Though many involved that day have moved on from the event, it is still an integral part of their lives.
Like many, Bethany initially thought the noises she heard were part of a senior prank. “We walked out, happy to get out of class. Right away, another teacher ran towards us and told us to turn around, get back in our classrooms, hide under our desks, and lock the doors because someone had a gun. We hid under our desks and didn't take anything seriously until the gunshots got closer and louder.”
Despite the trauma, Bethany remembers this time as one of the happiest in her life. “My 14-year-old self couldn't comprehend what I had experienced, but being surrounded by friends and serving our peers was a great first step to recovery. It kept my mind off of myself and the tragedy while we instead focused on others,” she said.
Healing for both Bethany and her husband, Casey, came with time. “I was a freshman at the time, so the healing came in stages with my increasing maturity,” Casey explained.
“Any popping noises, sirens, or alarms were startling and brought back memories,” Bethany remembered. “Healing came slowly, but I definitely would not have come so far, or found the peace that I did, were it not for the gospel. During the months and years that followed, I spent hours on my knees, reading my scriptures, and meditating for more understanding.”
Healing for some was not just emotional but physical. Church member Michael Johnson, who was 15 at the time, remembers eating lunch with friends when he was shot three times.
“We were sitting on a grassy hill about forty feet from the school. The first thing I remember was hearing gunshots in the direction of the school. I looked in that direction and saw the gunmen shooting two kids sitting against a wall. My first impression was that this wasn’t actually a shooting. I thought it was a senior prank, or at worst, a paintball gun,” Johnson recounted.
However, the supposed senior prank quickly turned serious as the gun was then pointed at Johnson. “The next thing I remember is being shot in the leg,” Johnson remembered. “It wasn’t pain the way we conventionally think of it. It felt more like the feeling when you hit your funny bone. Needless to say, I immediately recognized that [the shooting] was real.”
He continued, “My first instinct was to run away from the gunmen. While the damage to my leg was serious, it did not prevent me from running on it. I was able to get behind a shed about one hundred feet away from where I was sitting. In the mean time, I was shot again in the arm and the back of my neck.”
It was then that Johnson began to slip in and out of consciousness. But behind the equipment shed, Johnson experienced an overwhelming feeling of peace. “After I had collapsed behind the equipment shed and was waiting for help to arrive, I felt a peace come over me, assuring me that no matter what happened to me that day, I would be all right. I felt certain that even if I died, I would be happy. The most vivid memory I have of that day is of that feeling,” he said.
He vaguely recalls being found by one of the track coaches, but the next sure thing he remembered is being in the hospital. For Johnson, physical safety would finally arrive after a trip to the hospital and twenty-two hours spent in two separate surgeries.
While in the hospital, Johnson made a resounding decision to focus on instead of his injuries and pain. “I believe that as a result, I was given the knowledge that as hard as that situation was, I would be blessed for it,” Johnson said. “While I had some moments . . . when the weight of the situation pressed upon me, . . . God blessed me with an innate knowledge that these things happened to me for a reason. From the beginning, I felt like I was given strength beyond my capacity to deal with the situation.”
As he focused on those reassuring feelings of peace and marshaled his energy towards healing, Johnson made tremendous strides in his recovery. He left the hospital only eight days after being admitted, and was able to walk without any assistance a week after that. “The only injury that still affects me is the arterial damage to my leg,” Johnson said.
Johnson now finds himself on the threshold of graduation from Brigham Young University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He is married and plans to pursue a master’s degree in the near future.
“If there is one thing I would like to share with others from my experience, it is that we cannot emerge from the trials we have been given unchanged. We will either let them beat us, or we will use them to become stronger,” Johnson reflected. “I was fortunate to have an outlook that helped me focus on what I needed to do to get through the hardship. . . . As a result, I was blessed to not only heal quickly, but to become a better person for it. I believe that these responses to challenges in our lives will always yield similar results. As long as we approach trials with the question, ‘What does God want me to learn from this?’ it will be easier to bear them, and we will be more likely to gain from them.”
“Tragedies and trials can make us stronger,” Bethany explained. “They can bring people closer together, they can strengthen families, strengthen communities, strengthen testimonies. . . . It is truly miraculous.”
2 comments:
Wow. I had no idea that there were members at Columbine. Interesting. It's a cool article: thanks for posting it!
I know. I didn't realize it either until I read that article.
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