Florida shooting victim's family from metro Atlanta

MARIETTA - The grandparents of a victim from the Parkland, Florida mass shooting have rushed to be by their granddaughter's side as she recovers from numerous gunshot wounds.

Maddy Wilford was identified as a student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. A Facebook post from her mother, Missy Cantrell Wilford, said her daughter was shot numerous times and needed a third surgery, Thursday.

Family friends said Maddy is recovering well from the latest procedure.

Loved ones told FOX 5, her grandparents reside in metro Atlanta and traveled to Florida after the shooting. Missy Cantrell Wilford grew up in Marietta and graduated from Marietta High School's class of 1991.

"They're going to need some help. This is going to be long and hard," said fellow classmate Robert Meaders, a current Marietta Middle School teacher who started a GoFundMe page to support Wilford's family.

The site has currently raised $28,000 as of Thursday night and was shared more than 6,000 times.

https://www.gofundme.com/support-for-missy-and-maddy

He said the tragedy has rocked the local school district, as teachers also knew Missy and her family.

Meaders said he wanted the public to remember the victims who died and whose names have been released, but also the numerous shooting victims who are fighting for their lives and their recovery in the hospital.

"There's families all over South Florida, and there's families and friends all over this country that are hurting," Meaders said.