EAST LANSING, Mich. – “Primeramente, le doy gracias a Dios.”
That was how one of the Michigan State University victims started off her Facebook post on March 23 giving an update on her recovery. The Spanish phrase translates to “First of all, I thank God.”
Guadalupe Huapilla-Perez, an MSU junior, was one of the five students who were shot on campus the day before Valentine’s Day.
The junior was one of the first students to be identified, and a GoFundMe page was created for her by her older sister within a couple of days of the tragic event. As of March 25, the GoFundMe has close to $500,000 raised for Huapilla-Perez.
“Parts of that night are very clear and others are blurred memories. I remember the sound of the first bullet shot. I remember calling my mom - afraid, so afraid that that would be the last time I talked to her,” wrote Huapilla-Perez. “For her, a call she never expected but always feared receiving.”
More: 4th student discharged from hospital after being injured in Michigan State mass shooting
Huapilla-Perez proceeds to go into detail on how she left Sparrow Hospital in Lansing precisely a month after the shooting. “There are challenging months ahead of me, as my wounds require follow-up surgeries, making me relive that pain and that moment once again,” wrote the MSU student. “It is a vulnerable thing to admit, but recovery has been very hard. There are layers of my recovery I have to face every day.”
The Michigan State University student will finish her recovery process in East Lansing. According to her Facebook post, doctors have ruled out Huapilla-Perez’s out-of-state travel to Florida.
You can read what Huapilla-Perez on March 23, 2023, below:
“Primeramente, le doy gracias a Dios.
On February 13th, I came face to face with one of my biggest fears: experiencing a school shooting. I not only experienced it that night, but am a living reminder of it every day since.
Parts of that night are very clear and others are blurred memories. I remember the sound of the first bullet shot. I remember calling my mom - afraid, so afraid that that would be the last time I talked to her. For her, a call she never expected but always feared receiving.
I don’t remember exactly when I got shot but I remember a classmate holding their shirt to my abdomen area. I can’t remember the pain of my wounds but I can remember the pain I felt in my heart seeing this horrible tragedy unfold before me. I remember the rush to the hospital, feeling a deep sense of loneliness and fear. The ambulance ride to the hospital felt like it was 20 minutes long but seeing it afterwards, it was only a 5 minute ride from campus. Time just didn’t feel like it was on my side that night.
I was discharged from Sparrow Hospital on 3/13. Exactly one month from when I went in. There are challenging months ahead of me, as my wounds require follow up surgeries, making me relive that pain and that moment once again. It is a vulnerable thing to admit, but recovery has been very hard. There are layers of my recovery I have to face every day. Mentally, Emotionally, and Physically. But my recovery has felt safer having my family by my side.
Thank you all so so so much for your support. My family has shared with me the outpour of love for myself and the other students impacted. I never imagined being in this position but it is humbling. To experience your love, prayers, and support is unlike anything else. The small and big acts have all held equal weight in my heart. Your support means my family can be by my side during this incredibly vulnerable and traumatizing time in my life. And I will never finish finding the words to thank you all.
A day doesn’t go by that I don’t mourn the loss of Arielle, Alexandria, and Brian. I didn’t know them closely but it is a painful feeling to live with knowing I shared their last moments with them. Descansen en Paz.
To my classmates, the four other survivors, I hold you all in my heart. There is nothing that can change what we experienced together that night. But hearing about your recoveries inspires mine. I hope and pray for better days to come and promise to stand in solidarity in the ongoing conversation around gun violence in schools. No one should ever have to live through this.
I cannot miss a moment to share how wonderful the care from the Sparrow Hospital team has been. From the first night I went in to now, and in the months to come, I have been cared for with such grace. The doctors who saved my life that night. The nurses who continued my care. And everyone in between. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
To my MSU CAMP familia. Thank you for taking care of my family - so they could take care of me. Being an out of state student, CAMP is my family at MSU, and that rings truer than ever today.
I am continuing my home care recovery here in East Lansing. My medical team and family felt I was not yet in a state to travel home to Florida but I hold out hope for the day I can go home and continue my recovery in the comfort and safety of my family home. For now, I only ask that continued privacy is respected for myself and my family. Being out of the hospital feels so vulnerable and I still struggle with feeling safe.
In the meantime, I am so thankful that my parents and siblings have been by my side. My nieces & nephews and my dog, all who I missed deeply, were able to travel from Florida to Michigan to come see me.
Forever Spartan Strong.”
Guadalupe Huapilla-Pérez, March 23, 2023
The five MSU students were wounded when a gunman fired shots into their classroom in Berkey Hall the night of Feb. 13. Two students in that classroom -- Arielle Anderson, 19, and Alexandria Verner, 20 -- were killed. A third student, 20-year-old Brian Fraser, was shot and killed moments later in the MSU Union, an on-campus building near Berkey Hall.
The gunman fatally shot himself at an off-campus location in Lansing while police approached. A note detailing his possible motivation for the shootings was found.
Read: Michigan State student shot in chest describes experience at gun reform rally