LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

It’s been nearly nine years since the tragedy on the campus of Columbine High School. And among the lives that senseless act of violence affected is that of Miss Colorado Maggie Ireland.

As Maggie gets ready to compete in this weekend’s Miss America pageant, she's now opening up to Access Hollywood to share her personal story about her brother, Pat, who was wounded in the high school shooting – and his remarkable story of survival.

On the surface, it’s a charmed life for the beautiful, poised and confident Maggie, who was crowned Miss Colorado in June 2007. But the Colorado State University grad also carries a message with her – she calls it “Opening the Door to Optimism.”

“My family endured tremendous hardship after my brother was one of the shooting victims at Columbine High School. I truly believe that what got us through that time was our positive and can-do attitude,” Maggie said.

Maggie’s brother, Pat, was critically wounded in the horrific 1999 attack.

“I was with a group of friends at a table in the library and just [started] hearing some sounds from the outside, some pops,” Pat explained. “I was hit. Shot twice in the head and once in the foot.”

Lapsing in and out of consciousness, the then-17-year-old Pat was able to drag himself to a second-floor window, where police pulled him to safety.

Maggie, a seventh-grader, was in her school gymnasium.

“We had the TV on and I actually saw the clip when he came out of the library window,” Maggie revealed.

Pat talked more about his harrowing experience and the bullets that almost took his life.

“One of the bullets went through the left hemisphere of my brain. I was basically paralyzed on my right side and had to relearn how to walk. It went through the language center of my brain, so I had to learn how to talk and read and write,” Pat continued.

Maggie’s brother went through intense rehab at Denver’s Craig Hospital. And after just ten weeks, with his family by his side, Pat was on his way home.

Today, Maggie is a tireless fundraiser for both The Children’s Miracle Network and The Patrick Foundation, which aids survivors of brain and spinal cord injuries.

“I want to work with survivors of brain and spinal cord injury at Craig Hospital and just make that impact on, not only the patients, but also the families like ours whose lives have been impacted,” Maggie concluded.

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