01of 07Victoria StevensIn January of 2020, six gun-violence survivors from around the country came together for a roundtable discussion in New York City, to talk about the shootings that forever altered their worlds and made them part of a club that no one wants to join. “It’s so important to hear these stories because for every one of them, for every statistic,” says Sara Macaluso, whose father died of a self- inflicted gunshot wound in 1992, “that’s a family shattered.““People get complacent because they think, ‘Gun violence doesn’t affect me,’ but that’s because it hasn’t hit them yet,” says Carolyn Tuft, who was wounded in a random Salt Lake City mall shooting in 2007 that also took the life of her 15-year-old daughter Kirsten Hinckley. “I’m doing this because I don’t want anyone else to end up like me.“In honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day andWear Orange Weekend, we re-share these heartbreaking stories.
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Victoria Stevens
In January of 2020, six gun-violence survivors from around the country came together for a roundtable discussion in New York City, to talk about the shootings that forever altered their worlds and made them part of a club that no one wants to join. “It’s so important to hear these stories because for every one of them, for every statistic,” says Sara Macaluso, whose father died of a self- inflicted gunshot wound in 1992, “that’s a family shattered.”
“People get complacent because they think, ‘Gun violence doesn’t affect me,’ but that’s because it hasn’t hit them yet,” says Carolyn Tuft, who was wounded in a random Salt Lake City mall shooting in 2007 that also took the life of her 15-year-old daughter Kirsten Hinckley. “I’m doing this because I don’t want anyone else to end up like me.”
In honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day andWear Orange Weekend, we re-share these heartbreaking stories.
02of 07Carolyn Tuft: ‘My Daughter Was Killed at the Mall’Victoria StevensI took my 15-year-old daughter Kirsten to buy valentines for her friends at this goofy card shop in Trolley Square [Salt Lake City]. We parked the car, walked in, and inthree minutes she was dead. She was laughing and holding a couple of these gum packets when a guy came in — he just went randomly shooting through the mall. I was shot three times, and she was shot twice — the second time was point-blank at her head. You plan your life, you envision what your life should be, you protect your kids and provide opportunities for them, and for somebody to be able to take a gun and take that all away is not okay. I lost everything in a matter of three minutes. I was injured so badly I was never able to return to work. I lost my house, I lost my car, I lost my identity. People don’t realize the impact it has; you can completely lose everything about yourself. I lost my daughter, everything I had dreamed for her. I want to call her and say, “Look what I saw,” or give her one of her favorite cookies.
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Carolyn Tuft: ‘My Daughter Was Killed at the Mall’
I took my 15-year-old daughter Kirsten to buy valentines for her friends at this goofy card shop in Trolley Square [Salt Lake City]. We parked the car, walked in, and inthree minutes she was dead. She was laughing and holding a couple of these gum packets when a guy came in — he just went randomly shooting through the mall. I was shot three times, and she was shot twice — the second time was point-blank at her head. You plan your life, you envision what your life should be, you protect your kids and provide opportunities for them, and for somebody to be able to take a gun and take that all away is not okay. I lost everything in a matter of three minutes. I was injured so badly I was never able to return to work. I lost my house, I lost my car, I lost my identity. People don’t realize the impact it has; you can completely lose everything about yourself. I lost my daughter, everything I had dreamed for her. I want to call her and say, “Look what I saw,” or give her one of her favorite cookies.
03of 07Lisa Good: ‘After My Cousin Was Murdered … I Felt Alone’Victoria StevensI was 17 when my cousin [John Joseph Harrington] was murdered in Shreveport, La., on Aug. 7, 1982. He was 19. I was an only child; he was like my brother. I was devastated and alone in my grief and feeling like it should have been me. I thought I was the bad kid in the family. I did spend a significant amount of time suicidal. That feeling led me to dangerous situations, and ultimately it contributed to me being [ in an abusive relationship]. I was living with the threat of being shot and killed if I left. That cycle of trauma fuels violence. There are many women living with partners who have access to firearms, and they’re being terrorized. And as a domestic-abuse survivor, to give voice to those voiceless women and other survivors is meaningful. For me it’s important because the trauma and loss associated with gun violence, it’s prevalent. But what people don’t understand is that the loss and the trauma are enduring. We are a nation of survivors, and [I speak out] because I understand the need for healing that I didn’t get when my cousin was murdered. We can’t ignore it.
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Lisa Good: ‘After My Cousin Was Murdered … I Felt Alone’
I was 17 when my cousin [John Joseph Harrington] was murdered in Shreveport, La., on Aug. 7, 1982. He was 19. I was an only child; he was like my brother. I was devastated and alone in my grief and feeling like it should have been me. I thought I was the bad kid in the family. I did spend a significant amount of time suicidal. That feeling led me to dangerous situations, and ultimately it contributed to me being [ in an abusive relationship]. I was living with the threat of being shot and killed if I left. That cycle of trauma fuels violence. There are many women living with partners who have access to firearms, and they’re being terrorized. And as a domestic-abuse survivor, to give voice to those voiceless women and other survivors is meaningful. For me it’s important because the trauma and loss associated with gun violence, it’s prevalent. But what people don’t understand is that the loss and the trauma are enduring. We are a nation of survivors, and [I speak out] because I understand the need for healing that I didn’t get when my cousin was murdered. We can’t ignore it.
04of 07Colin Goddard: ‘I Was Shot at Virginia Tech in French Class’Victoria StevensAs a result of nine and a half minutes of somebody who never should have had a gun having a gun in their hands,32 of my classmates and teachers died. I got shot four times: above my knee and in both of my hips and my shoulder. I was one of the lucky ones. . . . I was pulled out of the room, and I was able to survive and work hard in physical therapy to return to do much of what I did before. I assumed, like most Americans, that we did everything we could to keep guns from dangerous people, and I frankly was shocked to learn that we don’t even do something as simple as a background check on a gun sale. The reality is so traumatic it can overwhelm you. This shooting is now impacting my life in a whole new way that I didn’t anticipate; with the bullets still inside my body, I have lead poisoning, with headaches [affecting my] ability to concentrate. And I have children, and the impact’s there. It never leaves; it’s not something you experience, then move on and it’s over. You still have to deal with the challenges.
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Colin Goddard: ‘I Was Shot at Virginia Tech in French Class’
As a result of nine and a half minutes of somebody who never should have had a gun having a gun in their hands,32 of my classmates and teachers died. I got shot four times: above my knee and in both of my hips and my shoulder. I was one of the lucky ones. . . . I was pulled out of the room, and I was able to survive and work hard in physical therapy to return to do much of what I did before. I assumed, like most Americans, that we did everything we could to keep guns from dangerous people, and I frankly was shocked to learn that we don’t even do something as simple as a background check on a gun sale. The reality is so traumatic it can overwhelm you. This shooting is now impacting my life in a whole new way that I didn’t anticipate; with the bullets still inside my body, I have lead poisoning, with headaches [affecting my] ability to concentrate. And I have children, and the impact’s there. It never leaves; it’s not something you experience, then move on and it’s over. You still have to deal with the challenges.
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Deandra Dycus: ‘My Son Was Shot at a Birthday Party’
DeAndra Dycus.Victoria Stevens
07of 07Sara Macaluso: ‘He Bought a Handgun, Drove to the Beach …‘Victoria StevensJust three days after running the Boston Marathon, my father, Mike Macaluso, stopped at a sporting-goods store and bought a handgun, then drove to the beach — that was his sanctuary. He parked his car on the seawall where he had a 180-degree view of the water. That’s where he died with a firearm that he’d purchased an hour or so before. It was April 23, 1992. I was 15. My parents were getting divorced. He was devastated. I went to bed that night without telling him good night or telling him I loved him. I have a young son now, and when he asks, “Mama, what happened to Grandpa and how come I don’t get to know him?” I don’t know what to say. Some of us are living proof, when it comes to suicide, really easy access to a gun on a really bad day — it’s life or death.
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Sara Macaluso: ‘He Bought a Handgun, Drove to the Beach …’
Just three days after running the Boston Marathon, my father, Mike Macaluso, stopped at a sporting-goods store and bought a handgun, then drove to the beach — that was his sanctuary. He parked his car on the seawall where he had a 180-degree view of the water. That’s where he died with a firearm that he’d purchased an hour or so before. It was April 23, 1992. I was 15. My parents were getting divorced. He was devastated. I went to bed that night without telling him good night or telling him I loved him. I have a young son now, and when he asks, “Mama, what happened to Grandpa and how come I don’t get to know him?” I don’t know what to say. Some of us are living proof, when it comes to suicide, really easy access to a gun on a really bad day — it’s life or death.
source: people.com
