(WXYZ — In June, a courageous mother defied a mass shooter, shielding her two daughters at Brooklands Splash Pad in Rochester Hills.
The events of that day continue to haunt the families who were out trying to enjoy time together.
“We were there less than a minute before the shooting started,” said Micayla Coughlin, survivor of the splash pad shooting. “I just tucked her up under me and got shot five more times after that.”
VIDEO: Full interview with Micayla Coughlin on what her family endured during the splash pad shooting
Her story is unimaginable, and in such a raw way highlights the impact of a mass shooting in our community.
At the time, her girls were 2 years old and 6 months old.
“We had never actually taken our toddler to get ice cream before. We decided it would be a fun, special treat to take our toddler,” she said.
Micayla has never talked publicly about the day a mass shooter changed the life of her family forever.
“Saw someone at the splash pad we wanted to say hello to, and we walked across the street to say hi,” she recounted.
Now just seven weeks later she’s recalling how a stop for ice cream led to visiting the splash pad for the first time across the street.
“We were there less than a minute before the shooting started,” said Micayla.
Only seconds later, Micayla, her husband and children found themselves targeted by a gunman.
Micayla had almost no time to react.
“My husband told me to run,” she said.
Micayla could hear the shooter firing continuously, then noticed him taking aim at her own child.
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“My toddler was up in a chair, and I noticed the gunman aiming a gun directly at her and getting ready to shoot," she said. “I reached up to rip her out of the chair. That’s when I was hit in my hand. I couldn’t get us out of there so I just put her under me.”
Knowing her and her daughters' lives were at stake, Micayla immediately took the step to sacrifice herself, taking the numerous bullets meant for her kids.
"He was aiming at the kids. Directly,” she said.
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Unlike other survivors who never saw where the shots came from, as they took cover, she said she saw the gun and that the gunman was wearing a black shirt.
Micayla not only could see the gunman, but also had no place to hide.
In that instant, she says she knew there was nothing she could do amid the chaos.
RELATED VIDEO: Multiple people injured at splash pad shooting in Rochester Hills:
“I was out in the open the entire time, and I’m not sure why I’m still here. He just decided to put his gun down and walk away,” she said.
Once the gunman stopped firing, Micayla could feel her wounds, having been shot half a dozen times.
She describes her injuries. “My right hand. The index finger. Hit three times in my left leg. Butt. Hip. Thigh. Two times in my right leg,” she said.
“After the gunman left, my husband ran up to me, grabbed our toddler. I just crawled to safety behind a turf mound,” said Micayla.
The horror of what just unfolded didn’t stop there.
“I tried to call 911. My hand was so bloody, that my phone wouldn’t even respond,” she said.
Since that day, Micayla tells me she’s had to process much more than just what unfolded, spending more than two weeks in the hospital.
“I had to have surgery Sunday morning on my hand to have a flexor tendon repair, tendon removal, nerve repair and my bone was fractured,” said Micayla.
Facing physical and emotional wounds, Micayla had to begin the long road to recovery.
“Intensive physical and occupational therapy to re-learn how to walk, shower, take care of myself one handed,” she said.
“My husband was discharged after four days and he was able to go home with our girls.”
Micayla says her 2-year-old toddler also needed to be treated for a wound that didn’t appear right away.
“We didn’t know it until 3 weeks later, but she had a bullet fragment in her left lower leg. She got surgery to remove that fragment,” she said.
Now able to reflect on what happened, Micayla is thankful she and others who were shot all survived.
But she doesn’t know why this tragedy happened, only that the shooter had mental issues and access to guns.
“I’ve personally never assumed I would be in a mass shooting,” she said.
She tells me while this ordeal has forced her and her family to now live in a very different reality—one where support from family, friends and the community has made all the difference and where she’s grateful to be alive.
“Thousands of strangers that are praying for us and sending donations. Thoughts and prayers our way,” she said.
She said she’s thankful to those who have dropped off meals and neighbors regularly checking on her family.
But their other scars, and the toll Micayla says all this has taken, is robbing her family of simple joys.
“Having injuries in my legs. We used to go for walks every day with our family after dinner, now we can’t go for walks with our family,” she said.
Micayla said, besides medical appointments, she hasn’t left the house once in the last six weeks.
“I’m just so acutely aware of how easy it is for anyone to walk into anywhere with a gun.”
Micayla’s toddler also now struggles with sleeping at night.
“She’s is still having trauma responses to loud noises. Nightmares. Not something a 2-year-old should ever have to think about,” she said.
“I just let her know it is OK to be angry. This shouldn’t have happened to us. Shouldn’t happen to anybody, but I do let her know it’s OK to be angry.”
Although her infant daughter was not struck by a bullet, she too has now lost a bond with her mother.
Micayla described losing strength in her dominant hand she previously used for nursing.
“Since I can’t hold her, I can’t really nurse her. Being in the hospital 2 1/2 weeks, when I got home she no longer would latch. This senseless act just ruined that nursing journey for us,” she said.
RELATED VIDEO: Rochester Hills splash pad reopens 18 days after mass shooting
Through it all, the Coughlin family remains unwilling to give up or to allow fear to hold them back.
Micayla said the overwhelming love and backing of our community helps them to keep moving forward, even when the pain of a mass shooting remains.
“Knowing we have thousands of people rooting for us nationwide. I’ve gotten Facebook message from parents from other states, saying they’re so thankful our family is alive and what we did is an inspiration,” she said.
If you’d like learn more about Coughlin family and help, click here.
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