UVALDE, Texas — It has been three weeks since the tragedy in Uvalde. Dr. Cecilia Murillo said she is starting to see the repercussions the mass shooting is having on the people of Uvalde.
She said mothers, grandmothers, and family members are not taking care of themselves or forgetting to take their meds. She said everyone was greatly impacted by what happened at Robb Elementary.
Dr. Murillo is a physician at Uvalde Family Practice. She was in the middle of the controlled chaos at the hospital on May 24. She treated some of the wounded. The doctor remembers children were scared and traumatized. She said her goal that day was not only to treat, but to let the kids know they were going to be okay.
Dr. Murillo has seen trauma before. But, nothing of this magnitude. The doctor has gone through two mass shootings. She is from El Paso and remembers the 2019 Wal-Mart attack that killed 23 people, and now what happened in her new home of Uvalde. She said it is an awful feeling to have gone through this type of tragedy twice.
Even though it has been three weeks, Dr. Murillo says the pain in Uvalde is still raw, and talked more about the new challenges.
"They are just not focusing on their own health and they are getting sick," she said. "People are more anxious, or more scared. And of course everybody is wondering what is going to happen in a month, in three months, in the fall, years from now. Right now, the challenge that we are facing is recognizing people that need services, and which services those are and how to get them plugged into those."
Last week, she traveled to Washington to advocate for gun reform. She also hopes minority communities, mental health, and safety are all prioritized. Dr. Murillo said she will make sure no one forgets what happened at Robb Elementary.