AURORA | For Amanda Mason, it feels like just yesterday that she was sitting in the waiting room of Swedish Hospital to support her friends after they were shot during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
“I wondered if they were going to make it or whether they’d be mutilated or be able to pull through emotionally,” she said. “It was the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
Bobbi Stark tattoos Kelsie Robbins with a heart bearing the Colorado state flag July 20. True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Bobbi Stark tattoos Kelsie Robbins with a heart bearing the Colorado state flag July 20. True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Tattoo artwork is seen July 20. True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Jerry Chacon tattoos Tom Gollasch on July 20 at True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Tom Gollasch inspects his new tattoo at True Blue Tattoos in Lakewood on July 20. True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Russ Pearson tattoos Shannon Tomkus at True Blue Tattoos in Lakewood on July 20. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Russ Pearson tattoos Shannon Tomkus at True Blue Tattoos in Lakewood on July 20. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Russ Pearson tattoos Shannon Tomkus at True Blue Tattoos in Lakewood on July 20. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Kelsie Robbins tattoo is seen July 20. True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Jerry Chacon tattoos Tom Gollasch on July 20 at True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Jerry Chacon tattoos Tom Gollasch on July 20 at True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Jerry Chacon tattoos Tom Gollasch on July 20 at True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood. True Blue Tattoo held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
Tom Gollasch inspects his new tattoo at True Blue Tattoos in Lakewood on July 20. True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood held a fundraising event for Aurora Rise, tattooing people to raise money for the nonprofit to benefit theater victims and their families. (Aaron Cole/Aurora Sentinel)
On the one-year anniversary of the theater shooting, Aurora resident Mason got a flock of black bats tattooed behind her ear. She said the permanently inked image will remind her how much strength she’s seen in the wake of the tragedy.
“This will show that we’re bigger than what happened,” she said. “(The shooter) is one person who did a horrible thing but what we can do from that is we can all come together and show that nobody’s ever going to knock us down.”
Artists at True Blue Tattoo in Lakewood drew memorial tattoos on nearly a dozen people by 2:30 p.m. July 20 as part of a fundraiser benefit. Tattoo artist Jerry Chacon said he hoped to raise about $800 from the tattoos by the end of the day, with all the proceeds going to the nonprofit victim-assistance organization Aurora Rise.
Aurora resident Chacon said three of his good friends were injured in the theater shooting. Donating to the organization, which helps victims’ families pay for everyday necessities like house cleaning, food and laundry, is one way he could help the healing process, he said.
“A tragedy like that really knocks people down a peg,” he said. “Everyone tends to be less trusting of other people … It helps to do something for others and this is a way to show people we still care.”
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.
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