A 12-year-old girl remains hospitalized at Hennepin Healthcare's pediatric ICU after she was shot during last week's deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis.
On Friday, Tom Forchas, the father of Sophia Forchas, joined Dr. Walt Galicich as they provided an update on Sophia's condition, which remains critical.
“I’m gonna be blunt, Sophia is still in critical condition in the intensive care unit. There’s a chance that she may be the third fatality of this event,” Dr. Galicich said. “But the door’s been opened a little bit and there’s some rays of hope shining through.”
Galicich detailed the extent of Sophia's injuries, saying she had been shot in the left temple, with the bullet going through both hemispheres of her brain, and lodging in the right side.
Part of Sophia's skull was removed to give her brain room to swell.
“If you had told me at this juncture ten days later that we’d be standing here with any ray of hope, I would’ve said it would take a miracle,” Galicich added.
It was also revealed Friday that Sophia had suffered a stroke and that she has been in a medically induced coma. As the pressure in her brain has improved, Galicich noted medical personnel have allowed her to come out of that medically induced come for very short windows.
"Sophia is kind, she is brilliant, she is full of life, and she is an innocent child who was attacked while in prayer," Tom Forchas said. "Words cannot begin to describe the terror and heartbreak that come with learning such devastating details. These past 10 days have been the longest and hardest of our lives."
Dr. Galicich noted the record time in which first responders got Sophia from the church into the operating room.
Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were killed in the shooting. 21 others were injured, including 18 children and three adults in their 80s.
Merkel's funeral is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. followed by the funeral at 4 p.m. Attendees are asked to wear bright colors in his memory.