Best friends who saved each others' lives in Franklin Regional stabbing reunited

PITTSBURGH — Best friends who said they saved each others' lives during the mass stabbing at Franklin Regional High School were reunited Thursday.

What do you say to your best friend who saved your life?

"I love you, Brett," Gracie Evans said.

"I love you, too, Grace," Brett Hurt said.

Hurt was released from the hospital on Thursday.  He was one of 21 students who police said was stabbed or slashed by fellow student Alex Hribal.  A security guard at the school was also hurt.

Evans wore her favorite "Captain America" sweatshirt for the reunion.

"He's my hero," Evans said.

"She saved my life in return and kept me from bleeding out," Hurt said.

Earlier, Hurt appeared at a hospital news conference and explained.

"What was going through my mind? 'Will I survive or will I die?'"  Hurt said.  "I was walking with Gracie Evans, and it all just hit."

Holding his mother's hand before a room filled with national and local media, Hurt praised classmate Evans for saving his life.

"I could barely move.  I got stabbed in the back.  She put pressure on my wounds so I wouldn't bleed out," Hurt said.  "Gracie saved my life."

Evans told reporter Courtney Brennan it was the other way around.
 
"My best friend jumped in front of me and took a knife for me," she said.
 
Hurt said he doesn't think he could return to school anytime soon.

"I might freeze," he said.  "I'm not sure I can go to school at this time. I need time to cope. All of us need time to cope. We're lucky to be alive."
 
He said he met the suspect a couple of times but didn't really know him.
 
"I feel he has issues he needs to work. He made a really bad decision that took him down a path he shouldn't have gone down," Hurt said. "I hope one day I can forgive him and everyone else who he hurt can forgive him. Most of all, I hope he can forgive himself."

You can watch the entire press conference posted in three parts on the left.

Here are some of the highlights:

https://twitter.com/WPXI/status/454266947019231232

https://twitter.com/WPXI/status/454268106467471360

Hribal is being held on charges including four counts of attempted homicide.

WPXI