Eden Hebron returned home from lunch to discover a mysterious white automobile parked in her driveway, more than a year after she watched a shooter murder three classmates and wound five more in her Parkland classroom.
Surprising guests have become unusual since the incident. Eden had been unable to cope, and her family had attempted to shield her. A therapist had come over 20 months after the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, when 17 people were slain, to transport Eden to a mental health institution on the opposite side of the nation.
Her family’s newest and most desperate effort to assist their daughter was the intervention. Eden, who was 16 at the time, cried and pleaded with her parents. Her school, her friends, and her life were all in Parkland. She found out she’d be going in a few hours and would have very little interaction with anybody outside of the California institution.
“I was really freaked out.” “I was more terrified than anything,” she said. “I was thinking, ‘What’s going to happen?'” says the narrator.
Eden’s difficulties after the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre, and her lengthy road to rehabilitation are not unusual – children who survived the nation’s worst high school shooting have struggled with trauma for years. Even among the adolescents who became outspoken advocates for gun reform, mental health concerns have appeared, wreaking havoc not just on them but also on their families throughout their adolescent years. Experts believe this is to be anticipated among survivors of mass shootings, particularly youngsters and young people.
Eden’s parents felt that relocating to California might save her life. While her classmates — many of whom were in treatment, and others of whom were suffering but making it through their final years at Stoneman Douglas — went on to take tests, attend dances, and find their way to graduation, Eden traveled 2,600 miles.
The days leading up to Eden’s intervention were tense. She wasn’t eating, she was sleeping excessively, and she’d started drinking. Eden’s parents were concerned that she might hurt herself. Every night, they checked on her and concealed all the belts in the home.
Nicole Cook said, “We truly had no way to assist our baby.” “She was torn apart.”
Because of the danger she posed to herself, police planned to send Eden to a mental facility. Cook, on the other hand, resisted them, promised her Eden care. Cook had decided on the California center in only seven days.
Eden’s phone, cosmetics, and clothing were stolen from her there. The center was a large mansion with a pool and a personal chef. Usually, five or six more teenagers were present. Eden thought the treatment facility was like the Four Seasons, but she felt desperate and alone.
“I was alone. I didn’t have my family.” “I didn’t speak to anybody,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on or how long I was going to remain there.” And all I wanted to do was get out of there.”
Eden’s family was concerned at home. They’d tried everything to help Eden recuperate but nothing had worked, so they’d come to the institution as a last chance.
Her mother wanted to provide tools for survivors’ families, and she held a planning meeting in their house. However, she was discouraged, in part due to a lack of financing – she said that money was going to already-registered organizations.
“It wasn’t even close to being agile.” They couldn’t afford counseling, or anything else that individuals actually needed,” Cook said. “They didn’t know what to deal with a traumatized community.”
Even after the apparent deaths of two kids, Eden said she observed stigma for individuals visiting the resource center or a new health facility back at school. Eden, on the other hand, continued to obtain consecutive A’s and attended Homecoming and parties. But she became irritable, skeptical, and paranoid.
She resorted to drinking and having poor relationships. She shut down but pretended to be a typical adolescent. Eden stated her therapist even informed her she didn’t need any more sessions.
Eden said, “That was me attempting to manage myself, manipulate myself, take care of things that I didn’t have the power to take care of.”
Eden was enraged in California. She pleaded with her parents to let her go.
“But, as much as I wanted to get out,” she said, “my parents wanted me to get well.”
They flew in once a week to pay us a visit. Cook, an epidemiologist, became concerned about COVID-19 in early 2020. The family relocated to California in anticipation of a lockdown that would preclude visits. Eden had moved into a group home, and her parents would have more opportunities to visit her.
The family would go to Malibu on Wednesdays to lunch along the ocean, perform yoga, or exercise. Eden was expressing herself more and enjoying her time with them, they noticed.
Eden left the group home when she turned 18 in February 2021 and moved in with her parents. They were concerned about the epidemic, and they anticipated a recurrence for their daughter.
Cook said, “We were frightened about getting ill.” “I had a feeling she was going to make poor choices.”
As a result, the family returned to Florida, but not to Parkland. Instead, they selected the Hollywood suburbs, which are around 30 miles away. Eden continued to meet her therapist over the phone and completed her schoolwork online. She began making preparations for college, a future that her parents could only imagine a few years ago.
Eden recognized that the intervention had saved her life.
Eden, now 19, is a student in New Jersey. She is interested in pursuing a degree in either computer science or neurology.
“In a sense, it feels liberating,” she added.
Eden is conscious of the little things she has to do to keep on track while she navigates college life on her own: she meditates, writes, and visits a therapist.
Some of their colleagues have continued to campaign for gun control and mental health assistance. It’s difficult to ignore the massacre or the constant barrage of stories – jury selection for the gunman’s death sentence trial is underway, with long processes anticipated.
Eden feels she could do more to help all of the teenagers who have been affected by shootings throughout the country. She understands that not everyone has the same resources as she has. She has no control over her situation.
“Some folks are having difficulties,” she said. “People are having a difficult time. As much as I want to go out and rescue others, I need to concentrate on myself because I know how difficult it may be for me.”