When gunman Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School, teachers were forced into unimaginable decisions within seconds. Education

He was armed with semi-automatic weapons and had already killed 20 children by the time he reached a first-grade classroom.

Inside that room was Victoria Soto, a 27-year-old teacher with nothing but courage and instinct.

The hero 27-year-old first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, realized what was happening and acted without hesitation.

She hid her students in a closet and bathroom, then placed herself between them and the door, telling the gunman they were not there.

She was sH๏τ while protecting them, but every child in her classroom survived. Victoria did not.

She later received the Presidential Citizens Medal, and her legacy lives on through schools, scholarships, and the children who are alive because she chose them over herself.