A Vancouver illustrator said she鈥檚 overwhelmed by the social media response to her cartoon depicting a victim of the recent school shooting in Florida.
Pia Guerra鈥檚 鈥淗ero鈥檚 Welcome鈥� shows a young girl leading the school鈥檚 football coach Aaron Feis by the hand to meet a crowd of other people killed in school shootings.
Feis was one of 17 victims who died when a former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday.
The assistant football coach and school security specialist was trying to shield students from bullets when he was fatally shot.
鈥淚t gave me a little lump in my throat when the idea (for the cartoon) first kind of popped up,鈥� Guerra said.
鈥淚 thought, I think that might be strong enough. But I had no idea it was going to hit people this hard. Everyone鈥檚 telling me that it broke them or they鈥檙e devastated or they got all punched in the gut with it or they鈥檙e in tears. And that was surprising.鈥�
鈥淗ero鈥檚 Welcome鈥� had been liked on Twitter more than 32,000 times by Saturday morning.
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Guerra launched her career illustrating graphic novels, including DC/Vertigo鈥檚 Y 鈥� The Last Man with writer Brian K. Vaughan.
But her editorial cartoons are gaining attention too. Last year, her cartoon of a child-like U.S. president Donald Trump sitting on former White House strategist Steve Bannon鈥檚 lap and saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 a big boy,鈥� also went viral.
鈥淚鈥檇 just started getting into doing (editorial cartoons) out of a sense of needing to do something after the election,鈥� Guerra said.
Former student Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 murders in the Florida shooting.
From the time he entered the building until the time he left, only six minutes passed, authorities said. During that brief time, he shot more than two dozen people.
Feis, 37, graduated from the school in 1999 and worked mainly with the junior varsity football team, the school鈥檚 website said. It said he lived in nearby Coral Springs with his wife and daughter.
Feis spent his entire coaching career at Marjory Stoneman after playing there as a student.
The Sun Sentinel reported that Feis, acting as a school security guard, responded to the original call on a school walkie-talkie. Someone on the radio asked if loud sounds they heard were firecrackers, said football coach Willis May, who also carries a radio.
鈥淚 heard Aaron say, 鈥楴o, that is not firecrackers.鈥� That鈥檚 the last I heard of him,鈥� May said.
Feis鈥� grandfather, Raymond Feis of New York, said his grandson 鈥渨as wonderful.鈥�
鈥淓veryone loved him and he was a jolly person,鈥� Raymond Feis said.
鈥淲hat takes away some of the pain is that he was a hero.鈥�
A tweet from the school football program ended: 鈥淗e died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories.鈥�
鈥� with files from the Associated Press
Amy Smart, The Canadian Press
