A survivor of last month’s massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has been hospitalised after visiting her best friend’s memorial.
Fourth grader IIliana Treviño’s heart rate spiked when she attended the memorial of Amerie Jo Garza and doctors told her mum she was ‘on the verge of a heart attack’.
Garza was one of 19 children killed when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire in their classroom on 24 May.
Speaking to People, Treviño’s mum Jessica said she rushed her daughter to hospital because the young girl complained she ‘didn’t feel right’.
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Treviño had been visiting Garza’s memorial to leave flowers and a teddy bear, however ended up in ICU.
Treviño remains in a San Antonio hospital where her heart is still being monitored.
The young girl is also said to be showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress from the trauma she experienced.
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Treviño’s mum told the outlet that Garza ‘protected her daughter from bullies’ and ‘made her feel okay to go to school’.
She explained: "I think it's just from a broken heart that we need to work on healing. Everything just broke her in half, and she feels the fear of being bullied again.”
The doting mum added: "The hospital told me, 'Your daughter's going into cardiac arrest.' And I said, 'What?’
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"Her heart [rate] skyrocketed because she couldn't take the trauma... all the trauma and pain from it.
"Her body was basically shutting down completely. It couldn't take it. Her body was basically reacting to the shock."
Ramos walked past Treviño’s classroom on the day of the shooting, but tragically, Garza was shot as she tried to call 911.
Describing the moment Treviño saw her best friend’s face on the TV and realised she was dead, the fourth grader’s gran said she ‘just started screaming and crying’.
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11 of the 19 children killed last month were in the classroom of Arnulfo Reyes, a fourth grade teacher who was himself hospitalised with multiple gunshot wounds.
Reyes recently spoke to ABC News about the ordeal, saying from his hospital bed: “The kids were yelling, 'What's going on, Mr. Reyes?'. [The students] were going under the table, and I was trying to get them to do that as fast as I could."
Reyes said he told the children in his class to 'act like you're asleep' before turning around and seeing the gunman - 18-year-old Ramos - who then opened fire on the teacher before turning his gun on the rest of the class.
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Ramos shot Reyes twice, piercing his back and one of his lungs. He has since undergone five surgeries and has twice had his blood replaced.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story, you can speak in confidence about where to get help from Mind free on 0300 123 3393, 9am–6pm Monday to Friday
Aisha Nozari