Mass shootings have become a terrible hallmark in history, particularly in the United States. As each attack happens, people are left pondering what could have been done to prevent the event and how future events could be prevented.
But we don't often get to hear from the survivors or how their lives go on after the attack.
Ellen Davis, or @ell.en.dav.is on TikTok, recently shared how her day-to-day life had been impacted after surviving a mass shooting, specifically the biggest mass shooting the United States has seen to date: the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting in Las Vegas back in October 2017.
Over 22,000 people attended the festival, and 60 people were killed in the shooting. 413 additional attendees were wounded by gunshots, and Davis was among the other 867 attendees who were wounded in other ways during the event.
Davis had attended the music festival with a group of friends when most of the friends decided to leave the event to find something to eat. Davis and one of her friends stayed at the event, shortly after which they heard the first of the shots being fired.
Trying to escape, Davis started crawling on the ground, including over broken glass. Davis was left with a large cut on her leg, which later scarred.
The scar was noticeable enough that Davis sometimes received questions about it, especially since she'd paired it with a "Route 91" tattoo below it, including at a recent pedicure appointment.
You can watch the video here:
In a text overlay, Davis explained:
"When the lady doing my pedicure inevitably asks if my scar is from a car accident and I have to say, 'No, it's from the mass shooting at the Country Music Festival that happened in Vegas five years ago,' and now the ladies getting their nails done on either side of me are trying to get a look at my hairy legs to see what scar she's talking about."
Davis also wrote in the caption of the video:
"Sorry if this is too niche."
But Davis was later surprised by how much attention her video received, as well as the number of TikTokers who personally identified with Davis's day-to-day life as a mass shooting survivor.
Countless survivors reached out in the comments section of the video.
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A few questioned why someone would comment on her scar in the first place.
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This is one of those terrible reminders that we never really know what someone else is going through and what has happened in their past, just based on looking at them.
