Ten years after the Sandy Hook tragedy, hero teacher Kaitlyn Roig-Debellis reunited with some of her former students to reflect on what they experienced together.
On December 14, 2012, Kaitlyn Roig-Debellis was teaching 1st grade at Sandy Hook Elementary School. And ten years later in 2022, the teacher reunited with her former students, Lauren Milgrim and Julia Marotto, both juniors in high school.
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"What I remember about Julia is that she always had a smile on her face, and she was just very vivacious and full of life," shared Kaitlyn. "Lauren was very precocious and took school very seriously."
When the unthinkable happened 10 years ago during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, Kaitlyn Roig-Debellis saved her students’ lives by cramming them all into a tiny bathroom in the back of her classroom.
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"I did what any teacher would do," she said. "And I can only thank whoever there is up there that helped us get into that bathroom on that day, cause if you had seen it, you would never think that 16 people could fit inside of it."
Sandy Hook Tragedy Survivors Reflect 10 Years Later
"I remember a lot from that day," said 17-year-old Lauren. "I remember, like right when the noises started, and I just remember holding everyone, and holding all my classmates."
"Pretty much the only thing that I really think about is she saved my life," Julia said. "One thing that she said was that she loved us."
Kaitlyn did everything in her power that day to make sure that her students survived.
Through tears, Lauren shared, "Without Ms. Roig's quick thinking, I wouldn't be here today. And neither would Julia or any of my other classmates. I'm just so thankful."
With 10 years passing since the Sandy Hook tragedy, Kaitlyn explains what it is like to carry that trauma with you.
"You live with it," she said. "You move forward in your life, clearly these two girls have moved forward, but you don't ever move on. It is wholly a part of you."
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And Kaitlyn shared her story in a book she wrote called ‘Choosing Hope," and she dedicated it to her former students.
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