A mother and her son miraculously survived mass shootings almost exactly one year apart, according to a Friday report.
Annika Dean and her son, Austin Dean, both escaped death during two separate shootings in 2017 and 2018. Annika survived the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport shooting Jan. 6, 2017 by hiding behind a smart car. Austin, her 14-year-old son, survived the shooting spree by Nikolaus Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School by following the guidance of heroic JROTC student Colton Haab, who instructed Austin to hide under a Kevlar sheet, according to the New York Post.
“I definitely had a sense of what he was dealing with and going through and there was nothing I could do. I was just grateful for every text he was sending me,” Annika told WPTV. She recalled the messages from her son, saying that people were screaming and that “he said, ‘I love you, just in case.'”
Following her own near-death experience, Annika said, “I have talked to my kids, sometimes when we’re walking through grocery stores, I’ve asked them, what would you do if this happened, where would you go, where would you hide.”
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Two of Annika’s friends lost their children, who were her Sunday school students, during the Parkland school shooting.
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