Uvalde Survivor, 11, Suffers Cardiac Arrest After Visiting Her Best Friend’s Memorial

Illiana Trevino, 11, landed in the hospital as her heart rate increased after dropping off a teddy bear and flowers at Amerie Jo Garza’s memorial. The 10-Year-Old is Illiana’s best friend, and she has always protected her from being bullied. Sadly, she was among the 19 children killed at the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. 

Illiana is still receiving medical attention, and her mom, Jessica Trevino, claimed her daughter had never experienced heart issues before the incident. 

Of the May 24 incident at Robb Elementary, Illiana had come out unharmed after the gunman hadn’t attacked her classroom. But her Amerie was shot dead after attempting to call 911 from her cell phone, according to the victim’s grandma Berlinda Arreola. Illiana discovered Amerie’s death after seeing her face on the news, listed as one of the 21 causalities.

“She just started screaming and crying. I told her, I’m sorry, baby. There’s just some ugly people in the world,” Illiana’s mom told PEOPLE. 

So far, Illiana’s family has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for medical bills. It explained her heart couldn’t take the stress and trauma of the past week. They added: “We are barely seeing the ripples side effects of what this tragic incident has brought to our community,” while mentioning that Illiana was sent to Children’s Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, an hour and a half drive from Uvalde. 

Jessica, via the GoFundMe, also revealed the medication Illiana is given is not working, and that doctor’s biggest worry is that the incident reproduces itself. 

“Her body was basically shutting down completely. It couldn’t take it. Her body was basically reacting to the shock,” Illiana’s mom explained. They’ve also been told Illiana is showing post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress from the trauma she experienced. Similarly, it’s alleged she’s terrified to go back to school. “Amerie made her feel safe and made her feel okay to go to school. Amerie’s parents did an amazing job raising such a beautiful little love.”

“It’s so sad how things work out in life because it’s not fair. It isn’t fair that any of these children lost their lives, but it just breaks me more because I know how much this child did for my child.” Pictured is Amerie.

Jessica concluded her interview with the PEOPLE, stating that Illiana has a long road to recovery and that she will have to be closely looked after. “I’m so worried. I pray daily.” As of this time of writing, the GoFundMe page has raised over $37k out of a 25K goal. However, this incident is similar to one of the husbands of one of the two teachers killed in the shooting, who died of a heart attack.