A survivor of Columbine who was paralyzed from the waist after he had been shot twice died at the age of 43.
Anne Marie Hochhalter died of natural causes on Sunday afternoon in her house, confirmed former Columbine director Frank Deangelis.
“She was a pillar of power for me and so many others. She was never an inspiration and illustrated to never give up, “he told the Denver Gazette.
Hochhalter was shot twice in the back and breast in 1999 when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold started shooting in the Colorado High School -Cafetaria, killing 12 and more than 20 was injured.
Harris and Klebold both killed in the upper floor library at the school.
She was left paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair -bound.
Since her life -changing injury, Hochhalter has spent a lot of her life with pleading for other victims of mass shootings.
“She never wanted to be called a victim. She considered herself a survivor, “said the good family friend, Sue Townsend, The Gazette told.

Anne Marie Hochhalter died of natural causes on Sunday afternoon in her house, confirmed former Columbine director Frank Deangelis

Hochhalter was shot twice in the back and breast in 1999 when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold started shooting in the Colorado High School -Cafetaria, in which they kill 12 dead and more than 20 injured
When the shooting broke out, Hochhalter enjoyed lunch with her friends. When she heard the first bullets, she thought that students photographed Paintball weapons.
But that changed when someone brought her back, so she was unable to use her legs to run away. A friend had to drag her away, but she would be hit again.
The couple managed to come out, where Hochhalter would struggle for 45 minutes to breathe while she was lying on the floor.
Once they were found by the first responds, she was transported to the hospital and, according to the Gazette, went into an operation of four hours.
Hochhalter struggled for years with trauma of the tragedy, but attended the 25th anniversary of the shooting.
Almost 17 years after the shooting, Hochhalter Penne, a letter to Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan, who offers forgiveness.

When the shooting broke out, Hochhalter enjoyed lunch with her friends. When she heard the first bullets, she thought that students photographed Paintball weapons. But that changed when someone brought her back, so she was unable to use her legs to run away (depicted: the shooters)

Since her life -changing injury, Hochhalter has spent a lot of her life with pleading for other victims of mass shootings. “She never wanted to be called a victim. She considered herself a survivor, “said Sue Townsend,” said Sue Townsend,
'Afterwards is really 20/20 and I am sure you were tormented about what you could have done differently. I know, because I do the same with trying to think of ways in which I could have prevented my mother's death, “she wrote.
Hochhalter's mother committed suicide six months after the shooting.
“I don't have a bad will against you. Just as I didn't want to be judged by the sins of my family members, I hold you in the same way.
'It was a rough road for me, with many medical problems because of my spinal cord and intense nerve pain, but I choose not to be bitter opposite you.
'A good friend once told me:' Bitterness is like swallowing a poison pill and expects the other person to die. 'It only harms yourself. I have forgiven you and only wish you the best. '