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Anne Marie Hochhalter was a 17-year-old senior at Columbine High School in 1999 when gunmen Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris entered school property, fired many rounds of shots and ultimately killed 13 people and themselves. Hochhalter was paralyzed from the waist down and later lost her mother when she couldn't bear the weight of her daughter's suffering and committed suicide.
The day before Dylan Klebold's mother, Sue Klebold, was to appear on "20/20" for her first televised interview since the mass shooting, Hochhalter shared a photo of a letter she received from the Klebold family while she was in the hospital.
"Dear Ann Marie, our prayers have been with you each day as we read about the terrible ordeal you and your family have experienced," the letter begins. "Though we have never met, our lives are forever linked through this tragedy that has brought unspeakable heartbreak to our families and our community."
Thursday, 17 years after receiving the letter, Hochhalter responded on Facebook, saying that she has forgiven the Klebolds.
“It been a rough road for me, with many medical issues because of my spinal cord injury and intense nerve pain, but I choose not to be bitter towards you. A good friend once told me, ‘Bitterness is like swallowing a poison pill and expecting the other person to die.’ It only harms yourself. I have forgiven you and only wish you the best,” she wrote.
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