Sandy Hook Shooting Victim
I had the great opportunity to hear a personal story of a father, David Wheeler, who went through a death of his 6 year old son, Benjamin Wheeler, from the Sandy Hook School Shooting and I wanted to share this with you guys.
On Decemeber 14, 2012, the day of the shooting, the father, David, explains how the day had started off weird. It was not a typical day for him and his family, he had to switch cars with his wife because of an oil change that his car had to undergo, his 6 year old son was not feeling well and had asked to stay home but like any normal parent they still sent them to school because it was not anything serious, and on the way to his job which was 2 hours away from home, he realizes how his son’s bookbag was still in the car.
So the start of this day was thrown off from the start, but the family did not think much of it and tried to get through it.
About mid afternoon, the father recieved a call from his wife where she sounded worried. She tells him to call the school and check on their sons, she heard something going on within the school and that there was a shooting within the elementary school. So the father calls in, verifies about the event happening, and leaves work to go and try to get his sons.
On the way to the school his wife calls again saying that she got their older son but still no sign on their youngest six year old, but she told him to meet them up at the fire department next to the school because the police officers had already closed off the area around the elementary school.
He finally arrived to the fire department, where they waited in worry for news about their son along with other parents who were unsure about the status of their kids.
They recieved the news of the death of their 6 year old son that day, who died along with all of his classmates on December 14.
The analogy he used to describe getting the news is something that really stuck to me.
He explains recieving this news like being on a subway train. The train itself is going at a fast speed and he is on board with his wife and one of his two sons. He then notices a train going the same speed right next to them and in it he realizes that he sees himself along with his family. The only difference is that his 6 year old son, Benjamin, was on that train. And he realizes that is the train he was supposed to be on, that is the train that he needed to be on, but he had no way of getting to it. All he could do is watch it go away like a memory and realizing that Benjamin is no longer on the train with them.
This is the point where I recieved a glimpse of what he was feeling that day, what he was feeling now. All the emotions and the anger and the confusion rushing towards him like a train and all he could do his sit there and think about the news he recieved, that he will never see his six year old son again.
I wanted to share this so that you guys could also get a glimpse of what it may have felt like if you were in that position, the thoughts that might have gone through your head along with the analogy that David shares with us about when he recieved the news.
David now shares the story of his son and that day. He is also a part of multiple organizations to help prevent something like this happening and to try to raise the awareness for mental health around the country.
My prayers go out to him and his family along with everyone else who went through this. Even though is was 6 years ago, the effects of that day still live on and I want to applaud those who do not live in anger from this event but instead take what happened to them and try to make the best out of the situation like David has.
