The story of Circle The Wagons is truly the story of Vickie Walker and her family.

A.J. is the son of Jeff and Vickie Walker. He was a sixteen year old high school student when he and his father were both shot by a mentally ill person while innocently shopping at Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jeff died while trying to protect his son, but because of Jeff’s valiant efforts, A.J. survived, sustaining very serious injuries. Due to the nature and extent of these injuries, A.J. will probably suffer from their effects for the rest of his life.

Vickie’s experience drove home to her how the challenges typically experienced immediately after the unexpected death of a loved one increase exponentially when the loss is the result of a violent crime. The high-profile nature of the crime added new dimensions to the situation, which made it almost impossible for Vickie to cope.

In addition to the normal chores of notifying friends and family of the loss, planning the funeral, seeing to the medical care of her injured son, trying to deal with the sudden and unexpected loss of income, life insurance questions, and myriad other issues, Vickie found herself thrust into the public spotlight with little guidance and no professional support.

Unfortunately for many survivors of media-intense crimes this is an all too common a scenario.  She later learned that there were organizations and government agencies which could have offered her assistance during that terrible time had she only been aware of them. Circle the Wagons and the Can of Comfort are Vickie’s way of making others aware of the resources available to them in their time of need.