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10-Year-Old Uvalde Victim Dreamed of Going Viral with Her Dance Videos—Her Family Is Trying to Make It Happen

Tess Mata had over 150 videos waiting to be posted.

By Karly Wood May 31, 2022

Tess Mata was a typical girl in today’s America: She wanted to become TikTok famous. Tragically, Tess was one of 21 victims who lost their lives in last week’s Uvalde shooting.

Now the family of the 10-year-old wants to make good on her wish and make her dance videos go viral as a tribute to Tess. Since she was too young to have her own account (TikTok users must be at least 13), Veronica Mata would let Tess make draft videos under her account, according to CNN. She had more than 150 videos.

To honor her late daughter, Veronica finally took to TikTok to post a few of her favorite videos. She captioned one “My sweet baby girl. She was taken from us because of a senseless act in a mass shooting. I never allowed Tess to post her videos because she was so young. But today I want to celebrate her by trying to fulfill her wish by becoming TikTok famous. #uvaldestrong.”

@veronicamata07
My sweet baby girl. She was taken from us because of a senseless act in a mass shooting. I never allowed Tess to post her videos because she was so young. But today I want to celebrate her by trying to fulfill her wish by becoming TikTok famous. #uvaldestrong
♬ original sound – Veronica Tess’ mom

Within five days, the video has nearly 70k views, 21k likes and almost 2k comments. The family hopes that it will become viral as an homage to the daughter they lost too soon.

According to CNN, Tess’ uncle shared the video on his account, where it was commented on by Paris Hilton and Lance Bass. Additionally, Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner also shared the video on their Instagram accounts.

One week later, people from around the world are still learning about the events that took place in Uvalde. In the midst of the heartache, the international community is coming together to show its support and solidarity. If you’d like to donate to Uvalde families, you can see the many opportunities here.