Maren Sanchez was just 16 when she was stabbed to death by a classmate at Jonathan Law High School in Milford.
Her mother, Donna Cimarelli, couldn’t even speak about it publicly for years. She’s not channeling her grief into a mission to save other girls.
"They just kept telling me that she didn't make it and I just kept shaking my head- no," Cimarelli said, recalling the awful day in 2014.
"You know...this is going to sound crazy, but I was more angry at myself,” she told NBC Connecticut’s Keisha Grant. “Because I had noticed things there were strange but like every parent I just said-these are kids, these are teenagers."
Cimarelli has spent the last year turning all of that heartache and doubt over the loss of her daughter into action. She created the Maren Sanchez Home Foundation with one goal in mind – to save lives.
"My biggest mission was to help young girls defend themselves against psychological and emotional manipulation because I feel that physical violence is the thing that happens after that has already happened,” she said.
The foundation is leading a series of workshops for girls designed to address an issue most women aren’t even aware of.
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"I think it comes from a childhood of not being taught what that means to be manipulated or what that means when you feel threatened. Or when you don't want to do something but you do it anyways to be nice," Cimarelli said.
And it may be these moves that physically stop them from becoming a victim.
"We started small and we realized there was such a need for it. We've had moms calling us asking if girls as young as 10 can come to the self-defense courses,” she said.
The classes are so popular the sell out every time.
UConn student Taryn Weaver made sure 90 of her sorority sisters took this lesson in survival.
"I hope that this clicks with them a little more and maybe the walk away know that they're not invincible and things can happen- but if they do- you're strong enough," Weaver said.
Cimarelli isn’t spending her time thinking about what could’ve been – if this type of knowledge would’ve saved Maren’s life.
"If she had the training maybe she could've run but again- we don't know- it just happened so fast and it was so unexpected,” she said. "That's why we make sure the girls learn maneuvers for spaces and situations that's basically when you're in trouble."
The foundation’s focus is on empowerment, building confidence and teaching girls to trust their instinct.
"We need to start teaching our girls a different way. Our girls need to become powerful, they need to be heard and they need to know how to listen to their intuition and their gut and follow it," Cimeralli explained. "Maren had good intuition and she didn't follow it the morning of her death."
Cimarelli’s pain doesn’t get easier, but she’s learned to take it day by day. She hopes Maren’s short but beautiful life will serve as the inspiration for parents everywhere.
"Be proactive, take action and if you see something that's not right with your child make a lot of noise about it. Don't sit back because if you make a lot of noise and it's nothing oh well, but if it was something - you can save lives."
The classes are called Her Self-Defense and they’re offered strictly for girls. You can visit learn more about the classes and the Maren Sanchez Home Foundation by clicking here.
