RICHMOND Virginia
Some students injured in the Virginia Tech shootings have
made significant progress, while others have a long road to recovery ahead of
them, the governor said Saturday.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine met at the Capitol with about two dozen
parents and about a half-dozen students injured in the April 16 shootings the
largest massacre in modern U.S.
history with 33 dead, including the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho.
Kaine, who had met with many of the injured in the days
after shootings, said the students and parents made “very heartfelt and
compelling statements” about their needs and concerns.
They included the continuing costs of medical and
psychological care, the status of an investigation and anxiety about their sons
and daughters returning to the Blacksburg campus, Kaine and participants said.
“Some have made significant progress, but some have a
long way to go,” Kaine said. “Some of these youngsters are going to
have significant medical challenges in the future.”
In addition to the 32 people that Cho fatally gunned down
before killing himself, 25 people were injured. None of the students who
attended the meeting appeared to have any obvious physical injuries.
Andrew and Anne Goddard were among the parents who met with
Kaine. Their son, Colin, was shot four times and still has shrapnel in his leg.
He will complete his senior year at Tech, his mother said.
“My son’s carrying around metal in him that he’ll have
for the rest of his life,” Andrew Goddard said.
Parents of the injured have a wide range of concerns,
including the costs of medical and psychiatric care that are perhaps more
layered and lasting than families who lost someone in “one final
act,” Goddard said.
– Associated Press
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