Fremd alum was just 3 blocks from Paris club under attack
Dozens of suburban college students were in Paris during last week's terrorist attacks, including one who was just three blocks away from the music venue where nearly 100 young people died.
Daniel Leahy, 20, a Palatine native and Fremd High School alumnus, has been living in Paris since Sept. 1 through a study abroad program with New York University. His dorm is near Bataclan, the club where the deadliest attack occurred.
Leahy was hanging out in his dorm Friday night, tired from visiting Disneyland Paris two days earlier and then having a make up day of school Friday. Shortly after the attacks began, a friend posted a breaking news story on Facebook about a shooting at a restaurant near their building. Leahy decided to send his mom an instant message in Facebook.
He wrote: “I'm OK. Safe in my apartment in case you're hearing the reports. One happened close to me, I think. Not going out tonight.”
His mom, Lisa, wrote back: “Good idea. Love you.”
Soon, news spread of the severity of the attack and Leahy's dorm was put on lockdown. Leahy stayed in touch with his mom after that and let his Facebook friends know he was safe with its “Safety Check” feature. NYU contacted Leahy to account for his whereabouts and told him and the other students not to leave the dorm.
“I was like, ‘I'm not leaving this apartment.' I kinda barricaded myself,” Leahy said. “I didn't see anything. ... I just heard the sirens. There were just constant sirens that night.”
Leahy's friends who were out near the Bataclan that night were shaken up. The school had counselors available for all of the students, he said.
Two days later, Leahy walked over to Place de La Republic, a city park where a large memorial was set up for the victims. He was moved by the display of candles, mementos, flowers and signs.
“People were silent,” he said.
Leahy's family had visited him in Paris the week before and they'd been near many of the places the terrorists targeted. That made it all “very surreal” to Lisa Leahy, who said she still worried about her son despite his “I'm OK” message.
“If we didn't have social media and the Internet, I'd be a wreck,” Lisa Leahy said.
Lisa Leahy praised NYU's handling of the crisis, saying they were in constant communication with the students and their parents. Extra security was added to the dorm entrances.
Lisa Leahy still feels a little uneasy about her son's plan to attend the remembrance service at the Arc de Triumph Sunday. She also hopes the experience of being in Paris during this tragic event will be a “growing-up moment” for her son.
“It's a new world these kids are living in now. It's not just on TV. You're living it. It's real. And it's not just in France. It can happen here in downtown Chicago. It can happen in New York,” she said, adding that her other son also studied abroad. “You just have to put your faith in God ... and every day, I'm just saying, ‘Please Lord, just look over my babies.'”
Daniel Leahy said he still loves Paris and is glad to see the city slowly returning to normal, like New York did after 9/11.
“It will be an unforgettable semester,” he said.