MN Doctors see 'rays of hope' for young Christian victim of trans violence who was shot in head, fundraiser for her hits $970,000

An update was given on Friday by both the doctor and father of 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, who was shot in the head by trans killer Robert "Robin" Westman during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota. Neurosurgeon Walter Galicich said that Sophia is still in critical condition and "there’s a chance that she’s maybe the third fatality of this event." 

Galicich said that there are "some rays of hope shining through." As of Friday afternoon, a GoFundMe set up for Sophia and her family members has raised over $970,000.

When she arrived at the Hennepin County Medical Center, Galicich said, she was experiencing pressure on her brain. She had been shot in the left temporal lobe, "and the bullet remains lodged in her right occipital lobe."

A decompressive craniotomy was performed, which removed the left half of her skull to allow space for her brain to swell. He said that the path the bullet took "injured some critical vessels," and the medical team did its best to spare as much of the cerebral artery as possible. 

She has been in the pediatric intensive care unit for 10 days now, where she had been kept "very heavily sedated, in a medically induced coma to some degree, to help keep the pressures in her brain down. Those pressures have remained in a relatively good range" to the degree that doctors have begun to allow her to wake up a bit more, Galicich said. 

"As I mentioned, there are a few rays of hope. She’s very purposeful on her left side of her body. She’s got some slight movement in her right leg, and she’s opening her eyes. She’s no longer fixed and dilated. The pressures in her brain are okay, and hopefully they’ll remain that way," he said, noting, however, that in cases with younger brains swelling can sometimes be delayed and get worse over time. 

"We’re starting to get out of the worrisome window, but we’re not out of it yet. It’s day by day, and I can’t tell you how this is going to end. 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."

He explained during questions from reporters that Sophia is not following commands yet, but appears to be "aware of some of her surroundings." He said that the medical team was "banking" on the plasticity a young brain has "that it’s going to improve, I just don’t know where this is going to end, though, and every case is different but we’re trending in the right direction." He said her right side may start responding with time "and a lot of rehab, and hopefully we get to that point."

Tom Forchas, Sophia’s father, condemned the act that resulted in his daughter ending up at the hospital, telling reporters, "just over one week ago, the world witnessed the heinous act committed by a coward to carry out such an atrocity against innocent children, children praying during mass, it’s unfathomable. In this horrific act of violence, my daughter, my precious angel, my Kukla Moo Sophia, suffered a gunshot wound to the head."

He took the time to thank family, friends, and the medical teams at the hospital, as well as all those around the globe who have been sending prayers. 

"We’ve heard of prayers from Oslo to Johannesburg, from Sydney to Santiago, from Vietnam to Canada, from Mount Athos, Greece to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Thank you."

He urged the world to "continue to pray. Continue to pray for Sophia, pray for peace. Pray with vigor. We need you to keep the fervor with which you are praying. And when you pray, move your feet. Moving your feet means one step at a time. It means volunteering your time. It means donating blood, means listening to someone who’s hurting. It means, asking yourself, what would Jesus want me to do? And if you don’t know Jesus, learn to follow him. His path will lead you back to prayer."

"Sophia is strong. Sophia is fighting. And Sophia is going to win this fight for all of humanity."