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| John Blunk died shielding Jansen Young's body in the Colorado theater shooting. "Steve and I love her so much and we want her to know that we’re praying for her," - Lynda Groff |
John Blunk died shielding Jansen Young's body in the Colorado theater shooting.
FARMINGTON, Utah (ABC 4 News) – Farmington native Jansen Young walked out of the Colorado theater moments after bullets riddled the Century 16 theater killing at least twelve people.
She thought the first shots were firecrackers and doubted the real danger she was in at that very moment, but her boyfriend Jon Blunk immediately pushed her to the ground and covered her body with his.
She said let me up, but he refused and whispered in her ear that someone shooting people. At about that moment Jansen could hear a woman above her yell, I’ve been hit and then she heard the shotgun blast that killed Jon as he shielded her body.
Tear filled conversations followed with family in Utah. She cried talking with her sister Reegan Young on the phone. Her brother Heston Young promised to be a better brother and offered his emotional support.
ABC 4 is learning more about this survivor; who she is, and where she comes from.
Jansen graduated with the class of 2009 in Kaysville from Davis High, but her roots go much deeper with her family moving to a friendly Farmington neighborhood when she was only 1-year-old.
It didn’t take long for Jansen to develop many friendships. At the tender age of only 3-years-old her mother says she would visit close neighbors on a regular basis.
“When we’d get off work she’d crawl through the dog door down to their house and she’d peak up with her fingers on the panel of my door,” said neighbor Lynda Groff. “She’d always come up and have dinner with us and she’d set on her barstool. It was the fourth barstool always. If someone was there they they’d have to move,” Groff continued.
The two developed a surrogate mother-daughter relationship. Groff says Jansen would bring her flowers and sing her songs. Jansen’s mother says this was not unusual behavior for her daughter. She joked that Jansen should be the executive assistant of social events for the United States. She describes her daughter as having a deep yellow personality.
Jansen grew into a young woman and developed a deep love for animals. She even hid a pet rat in her bathroom from her father for two years. He never learned of the animal until she left home for higher education.
Her love of animals drew her to Colorado where she graduated from Del-Ray with a Vet Technician degree in July. However with her life shattered and in a stand still; she continues to have much to look forward to.
Jansen plans to intern at a Zoo in Washington to continue her dream to work with and help animals.
Jansen’s story has appeared on the “Today Show”, “MSNBC” and “Dateline NBC”.
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