On Dec. 6, 1989 Monique Lépine, a nurse and mother of two is on her way to a prayer meeting when she hears on the radio that a crazed gunman has just killed 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montréal. Deeply distressed, she asks her prayer group to pray for the women and their families and the family of the killer. Little does she know she is praying for herself: the killer is her son, Marc. Thus begins Monique Lépine's nightmare. Overcome by sadness, guilt, shame, isolation, and the terrible pain of losing a son, Lépine hid her grief for 17 years. She resisted the hordes of media from around the world wanting to question her about what is still the worst mass shooting on Canadian soil. What changed her mind about speaking publicly was another terrible event: the Dawson College shooting in September 2006, when another lone gunman killed a young woman and injured several others. She gave a TV interview in Québec to Harold Gagné, and received a flood of sympathetic mail telling her that her own story could help other families with their grief. This is a story of grief and survival, told by an ordinary woman faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Harold Gagne's profile page

Monique Lepine's profile page