‘It’s a miracle that I’m alive’: Parkland school shooting survivor forgives gunman who wounded her in leg, back

A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who was wounded in the leg and back said she forgives the suspected gunman who shot her and killed 17 people.

Bullet fragments are still embedded in Daniela Menescal’s back and leg following Wednesday’s shooting. The junior claimed that she believed it was a drill until the suspect broke the door window and began firing.

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“I saw the blood and then the girl who was in front of me, she turned around and I saw her–she was hit in her face, and I guess a bullet was in her eye,” Menescal recalled to WPLG.

Menescal recounted how she and other students took cover behind a metal cabinet as bullets rained into her classroom. Two of Menescal’s classmates lost their lives and she still doesn’t know how some of her classmates are doing, according to the news station.

“It’s a miracle that I’m alive,” she said.

Menescal was hospitalized but still has metal fragments inside of her body from the deadly shooting. Despite this, the teen said she forgives the ex-student who allegedly committed the unthinkable act.

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She told WPLG, “In the back of his mind, God is with him and I know that we all deserve a second chance and that even for all that he caused, we forgive him. I forgive him.”

[Featured Image: Daniela Menescal/WPLG video screenshot]