11-Year-Old Survivor of Uvalde Massacre Put Blood on Herself and Played Dead, Aunt Says

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The family of an 11-year-old girl who survived the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday says the 4th grader played dead after the gunman entered her classroom.

Miah Cerrillo's aunt and godmother said the 4th grader is struggling to cope and telling them what she witnessed during the shooting.

"Around midnight my sister-in-law called me and she was just crying, like 'I think it just hit Miah. I think everything came to reality now,'" said Blanca Rivera.

Rivera said Miah's teacher, Irma Garcia, was one of the two teachers killed. Her friends and classmates were also targeted.

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Rivera said that's when Miah went into survival mode.

"Miah got some blood and put it on herself so she could pretend she was dead," said Rivera. "It's too much for me to play that scene over and over again, but that's what my sister-in-law said is that she saw her friend full of blood and she got blood and put it on herself."

Miah was injured but taken to the hospital and has been released.

"My brother said she had bullet fragments in her back," said Rivera.

Rivera, a mother of three, said the family is rallying around Miah to help her recover physically, emotionally and spiritually.

"At this point, we just have to pray and ask God to help us move forward through this situation, I know it's traumatizing as it is," said Rivera.

Nearly everyone in the town of Uvalde has been touched by the loss of someone in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, residents are supporting each other as they begin coping with the tragedy.

wookiee_borg on May 27th, 2022 at 00:00 UTC »

40 minutes. She played dead, using her friends blood, with bullet fragments in her back, for a MINIMUM of 40 minutes.

DanYHKim on May 26th, 2022 at 23:38 UTC »

I read a LIFE magazine article about a WWII soldier who was in a psych hospital because he pulled the dead body of his friend over himself to hide from Germans.

"My friend died, and then he saved my life"

The experience ate at him until he could no longer function. I cannot imagine what that child must be going through.

Jeramus on May 26th, 2022 at 23:33 UTC »

This is the kind of thing you expect from a warzone, not a school. That poor girl. How do you recover from that level of trauma?