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For Parkland survivor, a long road to recovery from trauma

Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Nicole Cook talks about her family's years-long struggle to help her daughter Eden Hebron work through trauma and mental health effects after she witnessed a gunman kill a close friend and two other students in Florida's 2018 high school massacre in Parkland, during an interview, Friday, March 11, 2022, at Hebron's parents condominium in Hollywood, Fla. Hebron's experience shows how many of the survivors have grappled with severe mental health issues that derailed their adolescence and greatly impacted their families.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

By: Associated Press

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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Eden Hebron witnessed a gunman kill a close friend and two other students on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

More than a year later, the trauma still weighed heavily on Eden and other students. Eden's parents eventually sent her to a mental health facility in California.

There, she had little contact with the outside world. She went through therapy and treatment alongside a handful of other teens. She moved back to Florida and now studies in New Jersey.

Her long journey in recovery isn't unique _ others who've survived shootings grappled with trauma for years. Eden shares her story to help others and says she feels for those who don't have the same resources.

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