The family of a young girl who suffered severe injuries in a mass stabbing outside a primary school on Parnell Square have said they “want justice” so that “other parents” won’t have to endure the same pain, reports Breaking News.
They also shared that she recently had another “unexpected” hospital visit.
The child, who was five years old at the time of the incident, was critically wounded outside Coláiste Mhuire National School on Parnell Square in Dublin on November 23rd, 2023. She spent most of the following year in Temple Street Children’s Hospital before finally being discharged late last year, reports Breaking News.
Family members have continued to post updates through a GoFundMe page that was created in the aftermath of the attack, and it has so far raised nearly €136,000.
In a recent update, the girl’s parents described how impressed they are by their “angel warrior’s resilience,” reports Breaking News.
They added that despite an “unexpected stay back in hospital, she smiled through lines being put in, bloods being drawn, oxygen mask, the works.”
The little girl has since returned home, “back home, back in school, getting stronger again,” reports Breaking News.
Her parents said that while it was difficult seeing her back in hospital, it was “really nice seeing so many familiar faces. They (hospital staff) were also delighted to see how far she has come, how strong she looks.”
Still, the incident nearly 20 months ago has left lasting trauma for her mother and family, who said what unfolded that day “like a scene from a movie, but that it isn’t,” reports Breaking News.
Her mother explained: “This happened to our little girl. Only it wasn’t a workplace, it was a school. And nothing is certain… She gets by because she is a happy child, surrounded by love. In spite of it all, we have no answers, even if we know who is responsible. And we know we want justice so that other parents don’t have to go through what we are.”
The stabbings on Parnell Square also injured two more children and a care worker, reports Breaking News.
The mother, who lives in Dublin, spoke about how the attack and the time since have left an ongoing impact on both her and her daughter.
“One day, at the end of your work day, you are standing outside your workplace, and suddenly, you see a commotion. You run because your instincts tell you to do so, only you cannot run because something is stopping you from doing it. And then you slip into a nightmare, one that you try to escape, try to climb a tree or a wall to get out,” reports Breaking News.
She described what her daughter must have experienced during the attack and in the long months that followed.
“Days, weeks, months, go by. You are not able to speak, you are unable to walk. You can lift one arm, very slowly. You cannot eat because you haven’t ‘learnt’ how to swallow. Instead, you have a tube going into your stomach,” her mother details, reports Breaking News.
“People guess what you want because you still cannot speak. They change your nappy, wipe your mouth, bathe you, all the things you managed to do yourself. You are completely dependent. You have scars across your chest, on your neck, on your arm from all the different life-saving procedures. It is a lot. You just want to understand,” reports Breaking News.
Riad Bouchaker (50) is currently facing trial on charges including three counts of attempted murder, possessing and producing a kitchen knife, three counts of assault causing harm, and one count of assault causing serious harm.
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