An Irish woman who was almost fatally shot by her Australian ex-boyfriend has spoken for the first time since the attack, reports The Mirror.
Social worker Eileen Gibbons, 38, spoke to her mother on the phone from her hospital bed on Saturday – four days after she was shot.
Eileen, a mum from Castlebar, Co Mayo, underwent two operations at Royal Darwin Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Her cousin Enda O’Brien told Ireland’s Sunday Mirror last night: “This morning she talked to her mother on the phone. They’ve done two different rounds of surgery. At the moment she is actually responsive, but she’s a long road ahead of her. There’s a lot of damage done. I couldn’t see her coming back in the next few months.”
Eileen, the mother of one-year-old daughter Sylvia, was shot in what police say was a suicide attempt by her ex-boyfriend Ralph Donald.
On Tuesday, Donald, 35, shot her dead at his family home in Darwin and then turned the gun on himself.
Eileen reportedly ran away from her home with Donald in Darwin’s northern suburbs and went to a domestic violence shelter.
Enda, who grew up with Eileen in Castlebar, said: “It’s very tragic all around, there are no winners in this. His [Donald’s] mother is looking after Eileen’s little girl, they have a very good relationship,” reports The Mirror.
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