. >> reporter: ava olsen always carries mikey, the ninja turtle that belonged to her friend, jacob. when you look at mikey what do you think? >> that jacob is with me. >> reporter: jacob hall, the boy ava imagined marrying, was six. in at the present time # september of 2016, he was shot and killed on the school playground in townville, south carolina. the shooter was 14. ava watched it happen. do you want to try to forget it or... >> i always try to forget it, but it doesn't work. >> reporter: mary and david olsen, ava's parents, now home school her. the eight-year-old has been diagnosed with severe p.t.s.d. and what are the symptoms? >> the rage. >> yeah. rage, started to yell. you her pupils get dialated and she doesn't remember anything after it's all over with. >> reporter: ava decided to do something about it. >> so i wrote the president a letter. >> reporter: and why him? >> because presidents are a pretty big deal. "dear mr. president...." >> reporter: she used her best handwriting. >> "i heard and saw it all exphap i was very scared. i don't want that to ever happen again. a

and it's signed ava rose olsen. o to ava and her mom, mary, about what life has been like since that tragedy and what specifically they're asking of from the president. >> ladies, thank you so much for being with me, and ava, before we get to your letter to the president, i just want to talk about how you're doing, starting with you, mary. it's been 18 months since that horrible day. how has your daughter been doing ever since then? >> she's still really struggling a lot emotionally. she's still very sad, very angry. still just really upset. >> i have to imagine there are better days and then worse days. what do -- how tough are the worst days? >> the worst days are pretty tough. it's -- it's so hard to describe it, but it's just such a low -- such a sadness, such anger on the worst days. it's difficult. >> ava, let's talk about you and this letter you wrote to the president of the united states. tell me why you wanted to write it. >> because i was mad and i wanted more people -- some people to keep kids safe because