5 years later, Parkland survivor says: ‘I don’t want anybody to forget about them’

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    PARKLAND, Florida (WESH) -- On Valentine's Day in 2018, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school heard a loud noise. It turned out to be a noise that would change their lives forever.

A gunman opened fire on fellow students, killing 17 and wounding 17 others.

Now, five years later, WESH 2's Anika Hope spoke to a local Parkland survivor who has one request.

Isabella Benjumea left her college campus at the University of Central Florida over the weekend to visit her former campus, Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

"I just kind of sat down and looked at the building and looked at the garden that we have outside and I just kind of you know, sat there with my thoughts, prayed and stuff," Benjumea said.

It was a quiet moment, five years after a horrific one, that stole the lives of 17 students and staff.

"The police came into the building. They looked through our little window, and they're like, 'Stay down. Stay down.' So we just stayed down. And then they opened the door and just told us to run," Benjumea said.

She was 14 years old when she lived through one of the worst school shootings in American history.

"I was actually the first, the first room to leave the building the first students to leave the whole school. So I was just out there and I didn't know what to do," Benjumea said.

She lost her first high school friend, Alyssa Alhadeff.

When the public remembers this tragedy, Benjumea asks that they remember all 17 victims like Alhadeff.

"You get stronger with time. But I don't want to forget about them. I don't want anybody to forget about them. And I don't want anybody to forget that this happened, because it keeps happening, unfortunately," Benjumea said.

The shooting in May of last year that left 19 children and two teachers dead in Uvalde, Texas, weighs heavily on Benjumea.

"It was just crazy to me that elementary kids, like 9-year-olds, had to live with I lived with at 14. And it was horrible for me. So I can't imagine how horrible it is for them at that age," Benjumea said.

Benjumea hopes America does not avoid reflecting on these heavy and hard moments.

"It's important to remember, even though it's hard. It's important to remember them," Benjumea said.

Those hard moments have shown Benjumea just how precious every moment can be.

"I've just gotten so much stronger. And I've appreciated life a lot more and appreciated the people around me a lot more. Because you know, life can just be gone in an instant," she said.

Benjumea is studying journalism at the UCF. She told WESH she was inspired after sharing her story with news outlets after the Parkland tragedy.

She hopes to share the stories of others just like her and her classmates.

Several leaders have spoken on the Parkland shooting, including President Joe Biden, who said in part:

"In the years since, more communities have been impacted by gun violence, but we have also made progress on gun safety laws. I brought together Democrats and Republicans to pass the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," Biden wrote in a statement. "Today, the U.S. Justice Department is taking another important step to implement that law, awarding more than $231 million for 49 states and territories to create and implement crisis intervention projects like "red flag" programs, mental health and substance use treatment courts, and veterans' treatment courts. This funding will reduce gun violence and save lives."

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