It’s the happiest time in Lacey’s life. She is
about to embark on an experience that will turn her into the educated woman
capable of helping others she has always wanted to be. But in less than 4
months time, one man will try to steal from her everything that she has ever
treasured. It is at this precise moment that another student does one of the
most touching things for her that I have ever seen.
Lacey Scroggins is the daughter of a pastor from
Sutherlin, Oregon, and a typical teenager. She loves football (especially the
Oregon Ducks), Carrie Underwood, and going to church. She spends her free time
looking after her horse, Tucker, who she adopted when he was just a foal. Today,
from the joy in her eyes, you can just tell how proud she is of how much he has
grown.
Lacey is clearly a caregiver, a person who acts
selflessly to help others less fortunate than herself. She works as a volunteer
at the nearby Bonaventure Senior Living center, helping to bring joy to
distinguished citizens often forgotten by their own families.
When she enrolls at Umpqua Community College,
Lacey has big plans: she wants to enter the nursing program and eventually
become a surgeon. Her dream is to help save the lives of others.
But on just Lacey’s 4th day of classes at
college unimaginable horror strikes. During a creative writing class, Lacey,
and her colleagues, hear a sudden, horrifying bang. Moments later, before
anybody has time to react or understand what is happening, fellow student Chris
Harper-Mercer storms into the room and fires two shots into the ceiling. The
professor collapses immediately and Harper-Mercer turns his gun on the
students. He begins to fire.
Lacey lays down, thinking to herself that the
nightmare can only be a drill. The shooter then proceeds to ask students, one
by one, if they are Christian, killing those who say yes. The students are
terrified and huddle together. Suddenly, Lacey hears a large pop right next to
her. Instinctively, she knows it is a former classmate from High School, Treven
Anspach, who has been shot.
Lacey is too shaken to describe what happened
next. Her father, pastor Randy Scroggins, tells it in his own words: “She felt
the weight of his body on her. She opened her eyes and he was lying in the same
direction as her, a little bit ahead of her. Then she saw his blood coming
under her arms. She heard a gurgling sound coming from his throat and felt him
move closer to her to cover her.”
Her father continues: ”And then at that time, she said, 'I
heard the shooter over me say, ‘Get up.’"
She froze. The shooter asked another person, "Is she
dead?" referring to Lacey.
The person said, "I don't know."
The shooter stepped over Lacey and shot someone else.
"The blood of that boy, Treven, saved my daughter's
life," Scroggins said. "I know it as well as I know that I'm sitting
here. He will always be the Scroggins' hero, from this point forward.”
It is exactly because Treven, with his last dying breath,
laid himself on top of Lacey that she survived. Treven made the ultimate
sacrifice for Lacey so that she could live.
Lacey’s father spoke with Treven’s mother on the
phone after learning what he had done for his daughter. Treven’s mother had
just one thing to say to him: “I want you to love your daughter, hold your
daughter, kiss your daughter every day of your life. We have a connection, and
every time you hug your daughter, I'll be hugging my son.”
In the meantime, Lacey has tried her best to
resume a normal life. This weekend, her mom and her sister took her to get her
nails done. And she has done the most important thing in the world: spent time
with her loved ones and friends. Trying to simply live and honor the memory of
Treven.
And Lacey will continue to live. She will go
back to class and enroll in nursing school. All thanks to the selfless actions
of one fellow classmate who, as fate happened, ended up in the same “Intro To
Writing Class.”
As the whole country grieves over this tragic event, it is
important to remember that even in the darkest of times, humanity finds a way
to shine through. And it shined so brightly through Treven, a special boy who
saved the life of this wonderful girl so that she could go on helping others.
If this wonderful selfless action of
a true hero also brought you to tears, then share this story with everyone you
know. So that the memory of Treven goes on forever.
Source
: hefty.co