'After 30 days, it is PTSD': Counselor who witnessed Trump shooting talks mental health

The bullets that whizzed above Kelly Eckrich made her afraid, not so much for Donald Trump , but the thousands of regular folks standing around her.

"I said to myself: 'This could be it,'" she said five days later. "I knew we were at a political event with the president, but I didn't think of it as assassination, I thought: 'Shots are fired. Active shooter.' I don't know if that person doesn't like any of us there."

Almost a week later, Eckrich, who works as a counselor at Family Life Counseling and Psychiatric Services in Loudonville and Mansfield, was still worried about everyone else who witnessed the former president get shot .

"You really have to kind of lean into your support system," Eckrich said. "There are so many resources to call, to text, and, even in people's towns, to go drop in to their family services community mental health board, they're available 24/7."

'You couldn't bring anything in'

Eckrich and her husband, Patrick, moved to Ashland in 1998.

They aren't the most political people, but they do enjoy history and public events.

"We've traveled to see an Eagles concert," Eckrich said. "We have season tickets to the Cavs, Guardians and Browns games."

The empty-nesters also like history and, since many of their family members are avid Trump supporters, decided to travel to rural Pennsylvania near where she grew up to see the former president up close.

"We were going to stop at one of our favorite Italian restaurants on the way home in Youngstown," Eckrich said. "It just made sense."

They left Ashland about noon. By 3 o'clock they were in line. It was 4:30 p.m. when they finally reached the security checkpoint to get inside.

"You couldn't bring anything in, even water bottles or even anything you bought," Eckrich said. "So there was just mounds of water bottles, chairs, even backpacks just left at the gate."

'You could see every feature on his face'

The couple pushed through the crowd, heading toward their right as they walked closer to the stage. They finally reached a place they liked, so they stood there and waited.

She remembers a slight breeze cooled them. She watched a flag fly under the late afternoon sun.

Organizers let everyone know Trump was running late.

"It seemed like we had been there for hours," Eckrich said.

Then, around 6 p.m., the former president's motorcade pulled in. Moments later, Trump was standing on stage, only 30 feet from the Ashland couple.

"You couldn’t reach out and touch him, but he was definitely without a zoom on my phone’s camera lens," Eckrich said. "You could see every feature on his face."

'One shot was right behind my right shoulder'

Eckrich, who stands 5 feet 3 inches tall, climbed onto a barricade so she could see above the crowd.

Trump had only been speaking a few minutes when the Ashland woman noticed a state police officer and an agent in plainclothes.

"They had earpieces and they were very hyper-visual," she said. "They were always on the radio. They were looking around. They were scanning."

Then there was a rifle blast.

"It was really eerie because the one shot was right behind my right shoulder," Eckrich said.

A bullet hit part of the public address system nearby, as well as a hydraulic hose.

"It made a really eerie fizzing sound," Eckrich said. "Then it spewed."

Before she could process what was happening, she was off the barricade and on the ground.

"I believe my husband grabbed me down off the fence," Eckrich said. "I had the worst bruise on my arm that I've ever seen in my life. I don't remember him doing that. I don't remember getting down, but I do remember hearing the shots and seeing President Trump go down."

'I woke up and I couldn't breathe'

The next few moments were confusing for Eckrich.

She finally realized the shooter was a would-be assassin, and not attempting a mass shooting.

She also knew she had watched Trump fall to the ground, but heard he had been helped back up.

"I did hear people chanting 'U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.,'" Eckrich said. "But I didn't know at that point that the president was up."

It took about 45 minutes for them to file out of the venue and walk a mile to their parked car. That's when they sat for a moment and decompressed.

"As a therapist, I know that after an event like this, you have to actually take the time to process within your own self," Eckrich said. "You have to take your quiet time alone without stimulus of talking to people, radio, any any input coming in."

They sat for a while, then drove home. They stopped for dinner, but that memory now seems like a blur.

Life went on as usual for the couple the next morning.

"Monday, I went to work," Eckrich said. "People were talking about it and I said I was there."

The counselor made it through her day without a problem.

Then came Tuesday.

"The third day, research shows, acute stress disorder, on the third day will hit you," Eckrich said. "It will come out in your body."

She already knew that as a counselor, but finally witnessed it Tuesday morning.

"I woke up and I couldn't breathe," Eckrich said. "My head was pounding and I was very nauseous and all I could think of was that day."

'If symptoms persist after 30 days, it is PTSD'

The counselor said she felt mentally paralyzed the rest of the day. She let the dog out sometime that afternoon. She remembers getting a glass of water and brushing her teeth.

"The brain and the nervous system are so closely attached to our human psyche," Eckrich said.

She hopes anyone else who witness the shooting that day ― and everyone who experiences trauma of any sort ― takes time to address their mental health.

"If symptoms persist after 30 days, it is PTSD, it is a diagnosis of assigned PTSD," Eckrich said. "I don't think I'll have that, but I do still have a tension headache."

For now, she's relying on the support of her family to get her through, and encourages everyone else to seek help if they find themselves in a similar state.

"Your body has conditioned your brain to that fight or flight, and it doesn't matter if it was the president or not, that is out of our normal, and we humans like to know what to expect," Eckrich said. "Listen to your body. You could be in shock."

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This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: 'After 30 days, it is PTSD': Counselor who witnessed Trump shooting talks mental health