SAN ANTONIO — Thousands are still recovering from the shock of the shooting in Kansas City. Marianna Sanchez and her family drove from San Antonio up to Kansas City to see the parade.
"It's nothing that I've ever experienced before," Sanchez said. "We're experiencing lots of feelings like guilt. It's something that I've been struggling with."
It was supposed to be a memorable family trip after a difficult year. Sanchez, her son and her husband were just blocks away from where the shots rang out at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl rally. Police later said one person died and 22 others were injured, including several children.
"The Union Station is where the shooting happened, and we were a few blocks down at another section called Power and Light, which is where they do a lot of watch parties," Sanchez said. "It's just a huge arena where people all gather and just have a good time. When the shooting happened, my son was on stage at Power and Light, so the DJ had my phone and so I didn't know what was going on because I didn't have my phone on me."
Sanchez's son, Justin, had spent the past year receiving treatment for a tumor.
"We told Justin, 'Hey, if they win, we will make this trip happen,' because he's a huge Chiefs fan," she said. "We wanted to make a positive trip to bring like a positive thing to this year after all of this. And I guess it just hit me that it was supposed to be something really positive and it still can be. But for this to happen, it's just a lot."
Before they drive back to San Antonio, Sanchez hopes to find a way to help others.
"I know we always hear the thoughts and prayers, and one thing I don't want to do is just thoughts and prayers," she said. "So that's why we're taking action to and we're going to donate blood. And I'm trying to get on Kansas City pages to see what else we can do while we're here to help the victims."