Author Marybeth Mayhew Whalen wrote: “Tragedy brings out the best and worst in people.” Stories of courage, sacrifice, and heroism continue to emerge in the wake of Monday’s horrific school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn.
Interestingly, notable acts take many forms — we’ve heard that on Monday, first responders sprinted toward gunfire, a principal approached the shooter attempting to shield her students and a nine-year-old girl tried to pull a fire alarm when others ran for cover. These younger and older heroes inspire and are emblematic of the courage and fortitude that has made America great.
But heroic actions can also be small and subtle. When we do what we can, we can make a difference. Actress Melissa Joan Hart posted a teary message on Instagram on Tuesday, noting her heartbreak over the loss of life while sharing her involvement in helping escort students off campus.
The Nashville resident shared that she is not a stranger to school shootings, having lived near the Sandy Hook massacre in which 26 died in 2012.
The mother of three shared in her post: “Hey, guys. For those of you that know, I live in Nashville, and what’s been going on here today, um…my kids go to school right next to a school where there was a shooting today.”
Hart continued, “We moved here from Connecticut, where we were in a school a little ways down from Sandy Hook, so this is our second experience with a school shooting with our kids being in close proximity.”
Hart then shared that she and her husband Mark Wilkerson’s three children attend a school near the Covenant Christian school and assisted survivors as they fled the school.
“My husband and I were on our way to [our] school for conferences, and luckily, our kids weren’t in [school] today…We helped a class of kindergartners across a busy highway.”
The teary actress continued, “They were climbing out of the woods, trying to escape the shooter situation at their school. So we helped all these tiny little kids cross the road and get their teachers over there, we helped a mom reunite with her children. …”
Caught up in emotion at one point, she paused, held a hand up to her head, and said, “I just don’t know what to say anymore. It’s just; enough is enough.”
Hart noted in the caption of her video why she made her post on Tuesday but kept referring to the shooting as happening “today.”
“Prayers today, Action tomorrow,” she wrote. “This was too raw to post yesterday but wanted you to hear this story.”
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