Minneapolis – There are “rays of hope” for a 12 -year -old girl who is critical injured in the deadly shooting last week in a Catholic church in Minneapolis, although her neurosurgeon has warned on Friday that it is always difficult to predict if she will survive.
Sophia Forchas was the most seriously injured child among those who survived after a shooter opened fire at the Annunciation church on August 27. The church was full of students from the Catholic School Annunciation Affiliated who had gathered for their first mass of the academic year. Two students were killed and 21 people were injured.
The shooter died by suicide, police said.
Sophia remains in intensive care at Hennepin Healthcare, a trauma hospital that has dealt with many victims. His neurosurgeon, Dr. Walt Galicich, said at a press conference that a bullet, which remained in his brain, caused serious damage, including a large blood vessel. The surgeons had to remove the left half from his skull to relieve the pressure in his head.
“If you had told me at this stage, 10 days later, that we would be here with any radius of hope, I would have said that it would take a miracle,” Galicich told journalists. He said they bet on the ability of young brains to heal and compensate for damage.
Sophia is still maintained in medical induction coma most of the time to control swelling, said Galicich. She opens her eyes and shows a certain level of consciousness of her environment, and has a slight movement in her right leg, but she still does not respond to orders, he said.
“It’s day after day, and I can’t tell you how it will end,” said the doctor. “I know that she had a stroke of this injury to this blood vessel. I don’t know what her permanent deficits will be. But we are a little more optimistic that she will survive.”
The daughter’s father, Tom Forchas, called him “my precious angel”.
“Sophia is kind. She is brilliant. She is full of life,” said Forchas. “It is an innocent child who was attacked during his prayer. Words cannot start describing terror and sorrow that accompany the learning of these devastating details. ”
Forchas said that Sophia’s 9 -year -old brother was also in the church but was not touched. He paid tribute to his wife, Amy Forchas, a pediatric nurse in intensive care in the hospital staff who did not leave the side of their daughter. He also expressed a deep gratitude to the Sophia care team and the support that his family has received from around the world.
“Sophia has received prayers around the world,” he said. “It is nothing less than miraculous to know that millions of people have raised its name in hundreds of millions of prayers. We have heard of Oslo prayers in Johannesburg, from Sydney to Santiago, Vietnam in Canada, Mount Athos, Greece, Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
And Forchas said that the courage, compassion and love of “all who helped us to cross this nightmare” help to make them.
“Sophia is strong. Sophia fights. And Sophia will win this fight for all humanity,” he said.
Also Friday, Minnesota students and several other cities across the country have organized debraying to demand that states and federal legislators prohibit assault weapons and large -capacity magazines. Many gathered at the State Capitol in St. Paul. The demonstrations were organized by the students ask for an action, an arm of each city for the safety of firearms.
