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OKC teen keeps faith as she recovers from shooting

Posted at 10:22 PM, Jun 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-06 23:22:22-04

The girl who came face to face with the gunman who opened fire inside an Oklahoma City restaurant -- speaks for the first time.

She was close enough to describe the eyes that will forever haunt her. 

15-year-old Alex Speegle locked eyes with the gunman.

"She was able to describe him to a T; even his eye color," Alex's mom Shelly Lee said. "Then I knew he was really close to her if she could say he had blue eyes"

Alex was entering the restaurant with her friends when they heard what sounded like fireworks.

"I did not see him until we heard the firecrackers," Alex said. "I saw out of my vision concrete flying up."

Dozens made a mad scramble for safety, but Alex couldn't move.

"I froze there and took a mental picture of him, and then I got shot and then I ran. I ran behind to the bushes and was screaming for help.  Yelling, 'God, why me? Help me."

People rushed to her, including a doctor and couple who heard Alex's cries.

"I was on the phone with her mom when the second shots came through," Chad Watts said. "We all hit the floor and waited for it to be over." 

Watts called her mom four times.

"He said, 'I'm with your daughter. There has been a shooting," Shelly said. "She's been shot.' My immediate response to that statement was, 'What? What?'"

The first gunshot shattered her collarbone. The second shot severed a radial nerve, which controls 12 muscles responsible for wrist and hand movement.

"My bicep is completely shattered," Alex said. "I have metal here, all the way down to my elbow. This is as much as I can move my hand basically."

She has every reason to be angry, but her faith is unwavering.

"I have anger for five seconds, then I turn around and think, 'Well this happened for a reason, and I can't get mad at God for putting me in this situation," Alex said.

This soon-to-be high school freshman was baptized just days before the shooting.
"I'm so blessed that I'm alive. Blessed to have guardian angels over me and so blessed to have doctors and the guys who put the shooter down. I'm so thankful."

Alex's injuries are severe and she has many more surgeries, rehabilitation and months of healing ahead of her.

If you would like to support Alex and her family, you can find her GoFundMe page here.

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