While Columbine High School shooting survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter’s life was shaped by tragedy, the tenacious woman worked hard to ensure it was not defined by it.

Hochhalter suffered devastating injuries. She told PEOPLE in 2004 that she had just stepped outside for fresh air when she heard a popping noise and suddenly felt something strike her back, which she initially believed was a paintball. As a friend helped her, she was struck again by a bullet, which this time hit a vein.

Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was partially paralyzed in the Columbine High School shooting but found the strength to forgive one of the gunman’s parents, has died.