Kelsea Ballerini recently opened up about the emotional trauma she went through after witnessing a shooting at her school when she was just 15.

The incident happened in 2008 at Central High School in Tennessee when her friend Ryan McDonald was shot and killed by classmate Jamar Siler.

During an interview with CBS News‘ Anthony Mason, as part of the promotion of her new poetry book, “Feel Your Way Through,” Ballerini talked about her decision to write and talk about the experience.

“With this particular situation, I’ve never talked about it before, but as the book was forming, I was realizing that…if I’m gonna talk about the things that have made me ‘me,’ I certainly can’t avoid this,” she said.

In the poem, “His Name Was Ryan,” Kelsea writes, “I’m scared of loud noises, I’m triggered by the news, I’m terrified of guns, I’m sensitive in crowds. But I’m alive.”

(Photo: Hannah Lux Davis)

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