Neurosurgeon says there are ‘rays of hope’ for girl critically hurt in Minneapolis church shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — There are “rays of hope” for a 12-year-old girl critically injured in last week’s deadly shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis, though her neurosurgeon cautioned Friday it is still hard to predict whether she will survive.

Sophia Forchas was the most seriously wounded child among those who survived after a shooter opened fire at the Church of the Annunciation on Aug. 27. The church was full of students from the affiliated Annunciation Catholic School 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 treated many of the victims. Her neurosurgeon, Dr. Walt Galicich, said at a news conference that a bullet, which remains lodged in her brain, caused severe damage, including to a major blood vessel. Surgeons had to remove the left half of her skull to relieve the pressure inside her head.

“If you had told me at this juncture, 10 days later, that we’d be standing here with any ray of hope, I would have said it would take a miracle,” Galicich told reporters. He said they are banking on the ability of young brains to heal and make up for the damage.

Sophia is still being kept in a medically induced coma most of the time to control the swelling, Galicich said. She is opening her eyes and showing some level of awareness of her surroundings, and has some slight movement in her right leg, but she’s still not responding to commands, he said.

“It’s day by day, and I can’t tell you how this is going to end,” the doctor said. “I know she’s had a stroke from that injury to that blood vessel. I don’t know what her permanent deficits are going to be. But we’re a little bit more optimistic that she’s going to survive.”

The girl’s father, Tom Forchas, called her “my precious angel.”

“Sophia is kind. She is brilliant. She is full of life,” Forchas said. “She’s an innocent child who was attacked while in prayer. Words cannot begin to describe the terror and heartbreak that come with learning such devastating details.”

Forchas said Sophia’s 9-year-old brother was also in the church but wasn’t hit. He paid tribute to his wife, Amy Forchas, a pediatric critical care nurse on the hospital staff who has not left their daughter’s side. He also expressed deep gratitude to Sophia’s care team and to the support his family has received from around the world.

“Sophia has received prayers from across the globe,” he said. “It is nothing short of miraculous to know that millions of people have lifted her name in hundreds of millions of prayers. We have heard of prayers from Oslo to Johannesburg, from Sydney to Santiago, from Vietnam to Canada, from Mount Athos, Greece, to Minneapolis, Minnesota.”

And Forchas said the courage, compassion and love of “everyone who has helped us through this nightmare” is helping to carry them through.

“Sophia is strong. Sophia is fighting. And Sophia is going to win this fight for all of humanity,” he said.

Also Friday, students across Minnesota and several other cities across the country staged walkouts to demand that state and federal lawmakers ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Many gathered at the state Capitol in St. Paul. The protests were organized by Students Demand Action, an arm of Everytown for Gun Safety.