A 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head during the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minnesota last month is making a “miraculous” recovery and is expected to transition to a rehabilitation program to start extensive therapy, her family announced Monday.
“Your prayers have been powerful. Sophia surviving this horrific attack is a miracle. Her healing progress is nothing short of miraculous,” Sophia Forchas’ family wrote in a statement.
Forchas, a seventh-grader, was among several other children and a few parishioners who were injured during the shooting on the morning of Aug. 27 that took the lives of 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski.
A fundraiser launched to offset Forchas’ medical expenses noted that her younger brother was inside the school during the shooting, but was not physically harmed. The young girl was sent to the intensive care unit in critical condition to undergo emergency surgery.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Walt Galicich said earlier this month that Forchas was shot in the left temporal lobe, which injured critical vessels, and that the bullet remained lodged in her brain after the shooting. Forchas had to have the left half of her skull removed during surgery to give her brain room to swell, he said.
Forchas’ family wrote on Monday that the 12-year-old is showing promising signs of neurological recovery and is being prepared to transition from acute care to an inpatient rehabilitation program, but “she still has a long journey ahead, filled with extensive therapy.”
The family said Forchas’ “resilience continues to inspire hope at every step.”
“Sophia is strong, brave, and unwavering in her fight toward healing. We ask that you continue to pray for her as she walks this road to recovery,” her family wrote.
According to research by advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, an average of 4,320 children and teens are killed by guns each year, with 65% of deaths categorized as homicide. The research also showed that an average of 527 people are killed by guns in Forchas’ home state each year.