A nurse in Minneapolis’s worst nightmare: a mother in the ICU sees her daughter among the injured youngsters in a church massacre.
Amy Forchas, a pediatric nurse in Minneapolis, was doing her regular morning shift when she found out that her hospital was taking care of people who had been shot at the school where her kids go to school.
Mom on the front lines
As ambulances started to arrive from Annunciation Catholic School and Church on Wednesday morning, Amy hurried to Hennepin Healthcare. A gunman had locked the doors and shot between 50 and 100 times into the church’s stained-glass windows. Sophia’s 12-year-old daughter was hurt badly. She had to have emergency surgery right soon because her mother was working in the ICU next door.
A family member said during a fundraising, “Her mother went to work to help during the tragedy, not knowing that her daughter’s school had been attacked and that her daughter was in serious danger.”
People close to Sophia noted that her recovery would take a long time and be full of surprises, but they are still hopeful. Her younger brother or sister was also there when it happened. He didn’t get hurt, but now he’s having a hard time dealing with the stress of having seen the attack and knowing that his sister almost perished.
People from all across the world are praying.
Father Timothy Sas of St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church, where the Forchas family has been members for a long time, asked people to pray for the girl’s recovery.
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Residents recall Robin Westman as ordinary tenant before deadly Catholic school attack. pic.twitter.com/hDv55EYUZe
He continued, “Sophia was born and raised in our parish, where she and her family for many generations lived the life of the Church.” “Thank you for all the prayers from around the world.”
A sad event at Annunciation
The event happened at 8:30 a.m., as kids were getting ready for Mass to start the school year. The police confirmed that the person who shot was 23-year-old Robin Westman, who changed his name from Robert in 2019. They said he had a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle.
Two kids, aged 8 and 10, died in their seats. At least 17 other people were hurt, including 14 kids and three elderly adults who were at church. The emergency transmission shows medics quickly asking for “all the gauze you have” as they rushed to save the injured.
Westman shot himself in the head and died not long after the attack started. Later, officials said that all of the firearms were obtained legally. They also said that the assailant had a personal link to the church: his mother, Mary Grace Westman, had been the parish secretary at Annunciation until she retired in 2021.
A community that is sad
The first week of school should have been a pleasant time for families in Minneapolis, but now it’s a time of pain and disbelief. The Forchas family is nervously waiting at Sophia’s bedside. Parents who used to accompany their kids to school are clutching them tighter than ever.
People who supported her commented, “She is strong and not alone.” The city is still working together to help the victims of a disaster that has left lasting scars on a religious community.
