When Mia Tretta was a high school freshman at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, she was struck in the stomach by a .45-caliber round. She survived, but her best friend didn’t.
But as Mia will tell you: surviving is not a static event. It’s a lifelong process.
Six years after that first shooting, Mia was a junior at Brown University, huddled in her dorm room during yet another active shooter alert. As the messages flooded her phone, she felt a familiar, searing pain in her stomach where she had been shot years prior.
A recent study from Rutgers University confirms what Mia and so many in our movement already know: the toll of gun violence is much broader than a single day’s headlines. Whether you were shot, witnessed a shooting, or lost a loved one, the trauma lives in the body as chronic, physical pain.
This is the reality for a generation of young people. We aren’t just tired of being angry — we’re physically hurting.
At March For Our Lives, we’ve worked closely with Mia and other young people who have experienced the pain that comes with gun violence. Many of you have seen her powerful videos sharing her journey. She is a vital part of this youth-led movement, but she shouldn’t have to be a “lucky one” for surviving two shootings by the age of 21.
Will you chip in $10 or $25 today to help us build a future where kids can finally be safe?
Mia is now studying public affairs and education, turning her pain into power as a gun violence advocate. She is a reminder that while the GOP and the NRA continue to prioritize gun manufacturer profits, our movement is fueled by something stronger: hope and resilience.
Healing is about action. Thank you for standing with Mia, and with all of us.
With courage,
March For Our Lives
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