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Survivors from 5/14 are still facing challenges

Survivors are coping by support animals or writing music. Regardless, they say their lives have changed tremendously since that day 2-years ago.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — With Tuesday's overwhelming feeling, mixed in with sights of the future, what happened two years ago still haunts former Tops produce manager Rose Wysocki. 

"All I kept thinking was Where's Tommy? Where is Sydney? Where's my team?" says Rose Wysocki. "I am now able to leave my house. I'm not back at Jefferson, and I miss everybody. I miss my customers. I miss my family! It's not the same."

Rose remembers the day clearly, the shooter addressing her, being shoved into a closet with others, and being called a "N-lover" by the shooter. 

She now has a support dog named Sheba. If it wasn't for her Sheba or Tops Executives, she says she couldn't have returned to work or even leave her home. 

For another fellow survivor however, it's something about music that helps former cashier Fragrance Harris deal with her emotions. You may not be able to understand her trauma, but her music tells it.

"Trauma isn't just the event itself but everything that has happened after it," says Harris.

She says that since the shooting she has been writing her feelings through song lyrics. 

She met with 2 On Your Side's Keelin Berrian at Johnson's Park to sing 'As I Cried,' a single Harris made after the Tops shooting. However, she's still struggling since what happened two years ago. 

"Saturday, I went to an event, and I'm sitting there, and I'm eating my food, and then I sat up and realized how many doors are in the room, and you start thinking of people running and trying to get out." 

Fragrance says her mental health has partially permanently changed. She wears spiritual beads, which she says have become a wardrobe favorite. She says it gives her a shield of protection. 

She also enjoys the encouraging words residents give her. However, she feels it sometimes puts her back in the mental space of 5/14. 

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