CHARDON, Ohio — Sunday marks 10 years since the deadly shooting at Chardon High School. All week, 3News is looking back at those painful days and the strength of a community that came together.
The Parmertors lived through the unimaginable.
It's February and Dina Parmertor and her family are getting ready for an annual event to remember -- and make sure others don't forget: The Danny Parmertor Scholarship Memorial fundraiser.
We sat down with Dina to talk about this milestone, and the years that have passed since Danny died. For Dina, 10 years doesn't seem possible.
"I've said it to a lot of people and I say it a lot. I see the calendar all the time but I have no idea how 10 years passed. I still see that day," Dina told 3News' Russ Mitchell during a recent interview.
That day.
On February 27th, 2012 at 7:30 a.m., a former Chardon High School student who was there waiting on a bus at the Geauga County school opened fire.
Dina and Robert Parmertor had just finished work on the night shift. After getting word that there had been a shooting at the school and trying to reach her son, Dina got a call.
"It said 'Danny' on my phone, so I thought it was him. I was so relieved," she said.
But the relief quickly vanished as a man barked orders to DIna. Was she Danny's mother? Did Danny have allergies? Dina tried to ask about her son. But the man would only say "You need to go to Metro Hospital right now." He made her repeat the instruction several times.
As a nurse, Dina knew. The man wasn't being insensitive. He was just trying to keep her focused, and get her to MetroHealth. Her heart sank.
16-year-old Danny was pronounced dead a few hours later.
"For me, every day that has passed, I have stepped back from not seeing Danny. That's the way that I look at it. I have stepped back from being with him. That much further, that I have been with him. I'm never going to forget. I don't want it to be gone," she said.
Dina says the scholarship fund is one way to keep Danny's memory alive. In the last decade, the family has raised through donations almost a quarter-million dollars for students who want to study for careers in computer-related professions: a field Danny wanted to pursue.
"I always look for a little bit of Danny in some of these students, and I've found it," Dina said.
When she recalls the qualities of her younger son, who would be 26 years old today -- she remembers his calm demeanor.
"He was such a good boy. He was so calm, just even-keeled, with the flow. He got along with everybody."
Ten years doesn't seem possible to Dina Parmertor. Yet every day that passes, Danny is with her.
"Every day, just because he's not here, the last thing I think of, and the first is him."
The 10th Annual Danny Parmertor Memorial Fund Raffle will be held at LaMalfa Party Center in Mentor on Friday, March 25.
You can learn more about the Danny Parmertor Scholarship fund and upcoming fundraiser HERE.
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