Two Louisville residents invited to State of the Union speech - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports

Two Louisville residents invited to State of the Union speech

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Erica Hughes and Kiniki Lucas Erica Hughes and Kiniki Lucas
Kiniki Lucas Kiniki Lucas

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Two Louisville shooting survivors have been asked to go to Washington, D.C. to be a part of President Obama's State of the Union Speech Tuesday night.

Erica Hughes survived a shooting in 2006 when she was just two years old.

"I remember that I lost my mother and somebody broke in the house and I got shot," Erica said.

Now just nine years old, Erica Hughes has been through a lot.

"I survived the bullets and everything that went through my body," she said.

It happened back in May 2006. Erica and her mom were left for dead inside the family's Wilson Avenue Home. Erica amazingly pulled through, and was even profiled on Dateline NBC two years ago. Now Washington wants to hear her story.

"They wanted these survivors to come together for a gathering in Washington as it related to the State of the Union and also on Wednesday there's going to be some congressional hearings," community activist Christopher 2X said.

The topic will focus on gun control.

"I felt honored that I would get to go somewhere that I've never been before," said Erica. "I was going to be glad that I could meet the President because he's very nice."

Erica has a message for him to deliver to everyone.

"He's always on the news. I would just say if you could just tell everyone when you get on the news tell them to stop shooting," Erica said.

Former Marine Sgt. Kiniki Lucas also received an invitation. She was shot outside of the Kingdom Nite Club near Churchill Downs last month. Lucas continues to recover from that attack – an attack that has brought Sgt. Lucas and young Erica together.

"I just said ‘Hi Niki' and ‘I hope you feel better' and I made her a card," said Erica.

"It was a very powerful interaction," 2X said.

The two now share an eternal bond from their meeting.

"It was a tearful moment for her and encouraging moment of hope that she could recover from the same brutal attack," 2X said.

As it turns out, Sgt. Lucas won't be able to make it to Washington, as she continues to recovery from her injuries. The two already have such a tight bond that Erica said she wouldn't go if Sgt. Lucas couldn't make it as well.

Copyright 2013 WAVE News. All rights reserved.

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