Many have been speaking at Kirk’s memorial on Sunday, including his wife, Erika, who stepped up to the podium to give an emotional speech.
She spoke about their marriage, her recent appointment as Turning Point USA’s new CEO, and what she saw when she went to see his deceased body in Utah.
She described the moment she saw the 31-year-old’s body in the hospital, as she said (via The Guardian): “I saw the wound that ended his life. I felt everything he would expect to feel. I felt shock. I felt horror, and a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed.
“But there was something else, too. Even in death, I could see the man that I love.”
Erika went on to say that the surgeon had told her Kirk did not in any way suffer, as she continued: “I also saw on his lips the faintest smile. And that told me something important. It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy.
“When I saw that, it told me Charlie didn’t suffer. Even the doctor told me – it was something so instant that even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room itself, nothing could have been done.
“There was no pain, there was no fear, no agony. One moment, Charlie was doing what he loved, arguing and debating on campus, fighting for the gospel and truth in front of a big crowd, then he blinked.
“He blinked and saw his savior in paradise.”
TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said that he had also spoken with one of the surgeons who’d attempted to save Kirk’s life, as he penned on X (formerly Twitter): “I want to address some of the discussion about the lack of an exit wound with Charlie.
“I’m usually not interested in delving into most of this kind of online chatter, and I apologise this is somewhat graphic, but in this case, the fact that there wasn’t an exit wound is probably another miracle, and I want people to know.
“I just spoke with the surgeon who worked on Charlie in the hospital… He said the bullet ‘absolutely should have gone through, which is very, very normal for a high powered, high velocity round.
“I’ve seen wounds from this caliber many times and they always just go through everything. This would have taken a moose or two down, an elk, etc.’
“But it didn’t go through. Charlie’s body stopped it.”