PARKLAND, Fla. — A brother and sister from metro Atlanta found themselves running for their lives during this week’s attack on a Florida high school that left 17 people dead.
Tyler Goodman is a senior and star quarterback at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. His sister, Maddy, is a 10th-grade student. They are from Fayette County.
The brother and sister said they each lost friends in the shooting.
"I'm all right. I haven't been sleeping well, though. It's just tough just imagining and the sounds and everything. It's just hard," Tyler said.
"To be honest, I'm kind of a wreck," Maddy said.
The siblings also mourn assistant football coach Aaron Feis, who they considered a second father.
Feis was shot while shielding students from the gunfire. He died from his wounds.
Tyler said he was in his head football coach's office during the attack.
"And he goes, 'Coach Feis is down. He's been shot. He's not moving. We don't have any movement.' And I collapsed. I just collapsed in the middle of his office and just started crying. I couldn't bear it," he said.
Tyler said the pain from the incident comes in waves.
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"You're frozen at one moment. You're petrified at another. You're angry at another. It's all of that just thrown together in one big mess and, honestly, I don't want anybody that I know or I love to go through that. It's terrifying," he said.
Both students said they're forever changed by the trauma.
"This is something that I don't think any of us students are going to get over, especially being so young," Maddy said.
Tyler had a message for his friends and family back home.
"I want you guys to know that I'm OK. I was OK the entire time," he said. "Just keep praying, you know, and we love you all. We miss you all and hopefully we can come up soon so you know for sure that we're OK."
The siblings said they know they it will take time to heal.
"We're going to have to go back at some point, you know what I mean, so it's just going to take time," Maddy said. "I mean, we'll get there and we have a supporting community that's here for all of us and I think with that it's going to be a lot easier."
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