Young mosque shooting victim has brain damage

Al Noor mosque shooting survivor Wasseim Alsati has spoken from Auckland Hospital saying his 4-year-old daughter Alen has suffered brain damage, after also being shot. 

Mr Alsati, who was shot three times, is recovering in hospital. Posting on Facebook,  he said his daughter Alen, who is in nearby Starship Hospital, woke up five days ago but cannot see or hear her family.

"She has had a lot of surgeries, a big number of surgeries, seven to eight surgeries. She has brain damage at the moment, and the doctors tell us it will be four to six months to know how bad the damage is.

"My daughter she wake up and she don't know us. She cannot see us or cannot hear us at all. I don't know if my daughter is cold or warm. My daughter is not replying back to me at all. We are all waiting."

He thanked the public, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the doctors for their support and said he was sorry he was unable to reply to all the texts and other messages he had received because he was too exhausted at present.

He was unable to walk at the moment but was confident of making a recovery. "It's going to be a long time for me to walk, but I'm going to walk.

"Keep praying for us, we need that and thank you for being beside us. I cannot wait until we all feel better and come back to Christchurch. I miss home; I miss everybody."

One of Mr Alsati's workmates has set up a Givealittle page to help raise funds for the family.