Erika Kirk feels 'tightening' in her chest ahead of husband Charlie's first death anniversary

Erika Kirk recently recalled how she felt just a few hours after she lost her husband, Charlie Kirk in a shooting incident.

On Monday, September 7, Erika’s article was published in The New York Times, in which she broke her silence on navigating life while mourning the loss of her husband.

She said, “It’s September 11, 2025 — the day after my husband, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed. The past 24 hours feel like a fever dream as I land in Phoenix from Utah and return home.”

“I get out of the car, and my kids run into my arms. They have no idea where I was or what I was doing. They care only that I am home.”

“As I walk to the front door, there’s a tightening in my chest I don’t recognize. Is this what grief feels like? I sit on the couch where Charlie sat two nights ago watching the Cubs with our kids. I feel a wave building inside me, and I know it’s about to crash,” the CEO of Turning Point USA penned.

Charlie lost his life at the age of 31 on September 10, 2025, while speaking at an outdoor campus debate planned by Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization he co-founded and led, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

It is pertinent to mention that the American right-wing political activist, entrepreneur, and media personality succumbed to a single bullet shot by a sniper that pierced his neck.