SANTA FE, Texas — The Uvalde elementary school mass shooting comes just one week after the four-year anniversary of the Santa Fe High School shooting in Santa Fe, Texas.
The town of Santa Fe knows all too well the pain Uvalde is feeling now. Their message to them is "you're not alone."
"It's life-changing completely," said Rhonda Hart.
Four years ago, Hart was in the midst of unimaginable pain. She lost her daughter Kimberly inside the halls of Santa Fe High School. Kimberly was one of 10 killed that morning in May 2018.
"I know exactly what these families are feeling," said Hart. "I call it the blur. They're going to be going through physical pain, they won't be able to sleep, won't eat, crying all the time. It's going to be awful. It will be dreadful."
The tragedy that unfolded in Uvalde reignites the pain and trauma that never fully healed.
"It does trigger you," said Hart. "I feel very much like a duck right now. I'm cool and collected on the outside and underneath I'm paddling like crazy and mad as hell."
She's angry because it happened again.
"It's lather, rinse and repeat as far as mass shootings go," said Hart.
She worries about the community and families that will come next if nothing changes again.
"Parents should never have to bury their kids or lay them to rest," said Hart.
Hart said what happened in Santa Fe forever changed that town. It forever altered her own life, and it will change Uvalde. Now, her mission is to honor her daughter by fighting for gun control and school safety hoping to spare others the pain she lives with every single day.
"People won't understand the pain it is until it happens to them, and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," said Hart.