During Charlie Kirk’s funeral in Glendale, Arizona, his wife Erika shared the painful moment she saw his body after the shooting. “On the afternoon of September 10th, I arrived at a Utah hospital to do the unthinkable. To look directly at my husband’s murdered body,” she said.

Erika described seeing “the wound that ended his life” and feeling “shock, horror, and a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed.” Yet, she also noticed “the one single grey hair on the side of his head” and “on his lips the faintest smile,” which she called “a great mercy from God.” She added, “There was no pain, no fear, no agony… then he blinked and saw his saviour in paradise.”

Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University. Friend Frank Turek recalled performing CPR in the car as security worked to stop the bleeding. “Charlie is laid out right in front of me, and Charlie’s so tall we can’t close the door,” he said. But by the time they reached the hospital, “Charlie wasn’t there… He was with Jesus already.”