BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — A teacher who was shot and hospitalized in the Sept. 4 tragedy at Apalachee High School has shared some of his experience in an emotional Facebook post as he is now home and recovering.
"From anger to mourning to sadness to gratefulness to even feeling blessed to be able to sit here and write this post, processing the reasons behind September 4th will be a long road which will most likely, never be truly understood," David Phenix wrote.
The signs and sounds of the day of the shooting, he added, "are immense and will forever be etched in my memory and will take weeks, months, and even years to process."
On Friday, David's daughter posted that he had come home and was recuperating with his dog Bailey by his side.
Then on Sunday evening he posted himself about the day of the shooting, describing how another teacher, Valerie Lancaster, put pressure on his wound after he was shot, how two other teenage students then helped keep pressure after she went to call for help and how close he was to even more serious injuries.
"For me, there is both a physical and mental road back to some degree to normalcy. Physically, there are stitches, staples, and bandages to be removed and physical therapy to be endured," he wrote. "I was incredibly blessed that the bullet that went into my side and the one that entered my foot managed to miss every vital ligament, tendon, bone, and organ. Had things been a quarter inch to the left or right, things could have been vastly different."
The math teacher also described the "pangs of sorrow and grief" he is feeling for the families of the four victims who were killed -- 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angula; and teachers Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall.
"Mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters were lost, and lives were changed forever. Please continue to pray for each of these families," he wrote. "I am sure they are hurting and heartbroken at a level few of us understand."
David also shared thanks to the community for what he said was the "outpouring of encouragement, support, love and compassion" he'd received as well as the first responders at Apalachee on Sept. 4 and the medical professionals who took care of him at Piedmont Athens Hospital.
The teacher also shared a particular thanks for his two daughters and wife, "whose love has remained constant, steadfast and unwavering through all of this."