When Katelyn Carney looks down at her left hand she is reminded of the Monday, April 16, shootings at her school, Virginia Tech. The 2005 Potomac Falls High School graduate and former varsity soccer team captain was one of the students injured in Norris Hall. Seung-Hui Cho fired a round a bullets through her German classroom. One his bullets flew through a desk into Carney’s left hand and shattered her left ring and pinkie fingers.
Since the shootings, James and Susan Carney travel back and forth from their Sterling home to Blacksburg, Va., to take their daughter to doctor’s appointments with hand specialists and surgeons.
On Sunday, May 6, the Carneys’ made the four-hour trip to Blacksburg yet again. This time, to bring Katelyn Carney back to Alexandria to meet with one of four hand surgeons working with the college junior.
Katelyn Carney has endured damage to the nerves and tendons in her left hand. She has also undergone two surgeries, where, her father said, doctors removed bullet and desk fragments from her hand.
JAMES CARNEY drove his youngest daughter back to Virginia Tech just two weeks after the shootings. He said she is busy studying for two finals there.
"She’s experienced some difficulties with the emotional impact of it all," he said. "She’s not ready to sit down and talk about it."
Since Katelyn Carney returned to school, her mother makes trips to Blacksburg to lift her spirits.
Several weeks ago, Susan Carney took the college junior to a Blacksburg bead shop. The mother and daughter made bracelets in memory of the shootings’ victims. The pair strung 32 burgundy beads on each bracelet they made to represent the 32 students and faculty members that died from the shootings.
ON THURSDAY, May 3, the international relations major met Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Richmond. The queen requested to meet the victims of the shootings while at the Jamestown's 400th anniversary celebration.
The majority of students who were injured April 16 were not able to attend the ceremony because of the severity of their injuries, Susan Carney said, but Katelyn’s injuries to her hand have not affected her mobility.
"We’re not out of the woods yet, but she is able to move around," Susan Carney said.
So, Katelyn Carney and three other Virginia Tech students flew on a plane from the Blacksburg campus to Richmond to meet the queen.
When Katelyn Carney met the Queen of England, she handed her one of the bracelets she made at the Blacksburg bead shop.
"She was curious about the colors, what it meant," Susan Carney said, "so Katelyn explained it to her. She carried that bracelet with her the whole time and never let go of it."
EVEN THOUGH Katelyn Carney is a junior at Virginia Tech, she will attend the commencement ceremonies Friday, May 18, and Saturday, May 19, in Blacksburg.
The school’s president Charles Steger will give honorary degrees to the students who died in the April shootings, and honor the victims who survived "one last time," Susan Carney said.
"Right now, we are focused on the students who are healing," Susan Carney said, "but our hearts really go out to the families who lost their sons and daughters."
The Carney family continues to ride the emotional roller coaster they got on the day of the shootings.
On Sunday, May 6, Susan Carney popped in the video of her oldest daughter’s wedding. Katelyn Carney attended her sister’s wedding Saturday, April 21, just five days after the shootings.
Susan Carney watched both her daughters at the wedding. Despite her injury, the 21-year-old stood next to her older sister at the altar. The maid of honor wore white gloves to mask her injury. Several other guests wore white gloves over their left hands to show their support.
"It was absolutely wonderful," Susan Carney said minutes after the video ended.