Uvalde Survivors: Noah's Journey Toward Healing

Eleven children and four adults survived the massacre at Robb Elementary School thanks to doctors in Uvalde and San Antonio.

We’ve heard many of their heart-wrenching stories over the year. Children, injured or covered in blood to appear dead, waited over an hour to be rescued.

Noah Orona is among the survivors.

“What he saw, what he experienced,” said Noah’s father Oscar Orona with a sigh. “My wife and I have a hard time dealing with it and we’re adults. We weren’t even there. I can’t even begin to imagine how he is managing to deal with it.”

It took Noah nine months to feel ready. On Valentine’s Day, he sat in the town square, facing a memorial for his friends and teachers.

“Physically I’d say he’s about 80%,” said Orona.

Noah has completed physical therapy for wounds sustained in the May 24, 2022, school shooting.

The fourth grader survived a shot through the back.

“He’s got fragments here and he’s got wounds under his arms,” said Orona pointing to his right side.

But it’s the invisible wounds he fears will be tough to mend.

“Is he going to be able to go out there and have a meaningful life and fend for himself and provide for himself?” he worries.

Their rambunctious son now but a shadow of who he was before.

“We cannot leave the house, just go outside, without telling him we’re going,” said Orona. “Also, we have to announce ourselves. ‘Noah hey, we’re going to your room, buddy.’ Because if he’s doing something, drawing or whatever, and we kind of sneak up on him it startles him. So, he’s not the same.”

Hoping to help Uvalde navigate grief and loss for years to come is the Ecumenical Center.

More than 20 therapists are in the small community, offering a wide range of therapy programs for people of all ages and needs.

“It’s a large undertaking,” said the center’s CEO Mary Beth Fisk.

Fisk is not able to provide details on how many people have reached out for help and if the number includes any survivors or the families of those killed.

The center arrived in town the day of the shooting and has planned to remain "as long as is necessary."

“Just as in Sutherland Springs, that event happened in 2017,” said Fisk. “Six years later, we have three offices.”

Mass shootings often leave many people in communities with survivor’s guilt.

“Survivor’s guilt is that feeling that I made it out and my friend did not,” she said. “It’s a real emotion. With our professional counselors, we can process through those feelings when they’re ready.”

Some people, including families of those killed and survivors, could take years to seek help.

When it comes to how one should or shouldn’t mark May 24 today and in the years to come, Fisk advises doing what feels right to you.

“That means that for some: attending mass, for some: a prayer vigil, for some: they may need to leave the community and return later on,” she said. “There’s no right or wrong answer.”

In Noah’s case, the family plans to gather with the community for a prayer vigil.

He’s slowly moving forward and spent his 11^th birthday earlier this month dancing a cumbia with his sister Laura.

Small steps forward with a supportive family in tow.

“My wife said it best when she said: We’re not going to let this monster determine our son’s outcome,” said Orona.