As survivors of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy are getting ready to sing at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, there is little talk about the difficult road to their post-traumatic recovery.

When the Columbine High School students were finally allowed to return to their school, weeks after the massacre in 1999, they were greeted by countless bins of mail of solidarity from around the world. As students freely went through the heaps of mail, Amber Wright, a senior at the school, found a small card written by a second grader. In it, she discovered the healing power of a child’s simple words, which played a significant role in her uphill, psychological battle.

“It was called ‘Sometimes I Feel,'” said Wright. “It described some different feelings that a child had had. They were sad feelings — but honest.”

Wright, who now lives in American Fork, said she was so traumatized after the Columbine shooting that it was hard for her to even go out. “I would pick someone in the crowd and imagine they would kill me,” she said. “It was so hard to go anywhere for awhile.”

That it took her four years, three therapists, two sleep specialists and one medical doctor to finally function with some degree of normalcy highlights the extraordinary battle that survivors face.

Now, with the help of Liz Carlston, another Columbine survivor, and Sarah Wood, a photographer who also lives in American Fork, she is working on a picture book that addresses symptoms of PTSD in children’s terms. The trio is trying to raise enough money to publish the manuscript and donate a copy of the book to each child of Sandy Hook Elementary. The book is unique because it is addressed to a new generation of school shooting survivors by former students who faced similar psychological battles. From the fear of going out in public to survivor’s guilt, the pages of It Gets Better are garnished with uplifting pictures and simple one- or two-sentence text.

One page depicts children holding hands, the picture of a big city blurred in the background. “The world is still a good place,” the page reads. “There are many kind, loving people out there.” Like the card written by a second grader over a decade earlier, the book is laid out with some specific examples of honest feelings — and many examples of how things get better.

Wright has managed to raise roughly $600 in three days through GoFundMe.com, but she said they need $5,000 to be able to publish.

There is a sense of urgency felt in publishing the book, Wright said, even though doctors do not start diagnosing PTSD until more than a month after a trauma occurs. Studies have found that steps taken in the meantime can reduce the likelihood that a child will develop PTSD. Also, symptoms are often harder to decipher in children as they may not be able to articulate their feelings of stress.

“Liz and I have decided to self-publish through Amazon, so that we can get this book completed and delivered in a timely manner,” Wright said. “With a six-dollar donation, we will be able to provide books for two children. Any extra money earned will be donated to the survivors.”

Money in survivors’ funds gets scarce rapidly because of the difficult path to recovery, she said, as it often takes visiting several therapists before finding the “right fit.”

“By the time I was seeing all of these doctors, all of the money in the Columbine survivor fund was gone,” she said. “It was very expensive, and that in itself was an extra burden.”

Today, from her home in American Fork, Wright says she is the happy mother of a seven-month-old child. “Life is never going to be back to normal, but it’s pretty great still,” she said. “We can live with PTSD, but we have to learn how to live with it.”

To donate, please go to http://www.gofundme.com/1zoefs.

Danny Crivello can be reached at crivello@citizen.af, via text at 801-477-6397 or on Twitter.

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