Sophia Forchas, a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head during a mass shooting while praying at the Annunciation Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis on Aug. 27, could become the third Annunciation School student to die from the attack, according to her doctor.
In a grave update on her condition, Dr. Walt Galicich, a neurosurgeon at Hennepin County Medical Center, said at a press conference Friday that Sophia remains in critical condition in the facility’s pediatric intensive care unit. He said there is a chance she could die, but there are also “rays of hope” that she could survive. Yet, he also couldn’t say for certain what her quality of life would be if she survives.
“I’m gonna be blunt, Sophia is still in critical condition in the intensive care unit,” Galicich said. “There is a chance she may be the third fatality of this event, but the door has been opened a little bit and there are some rays of hope shining through.”
The late “Robin” Westman, 23, formerly known as Robert Westman before a legal name change in 2020, carried out the deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church that already claimed the lives of Annunciation School students Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10.
Seventeen other students, who were at the church for an all-school mass, were also injured, along with three adults in their 80s, after Westman fired a barrage of bullets through the church’s window before taking his own life. Officials say all who were injured in the shooting were treated and discharged from the hospital, and only Sophia remains hospitalized.
In his update on Sophia, Galicich said if someone had told him that she would still be alive today based on the condition she was in when she arrived, he said, “I would have said it would have taken a miracle.”
“She was shot in her left temporal lobe, and the bullet remains lodged in her right occipital lobe,” which is a part of the brain located at the back of the head.
He said doctors performed a decompressive craniectomy, which required removing the left half of her skull to give her brain room to swell. Unfortunately, the bullet damaged critical blood vessels in Sophia’s brain called the Sylvian Fissure, which carries branches of what’s called the middle cerebral artery, “which is a very important blood vessel.” He said he and his medical team worked hard to save as much of the middle cerebral artery as possible before sending her to the pediatric intensive care unit where she remains in a medically induced coma to minimize the swelling of her brain.
“She’s been there now for 10 days. We’ve had some issues with swelling and increased pressure in her head, which fortunately have been managed fairly well,” Galicich said.
Sophia’s father, Tom Forchas, had high praise for Galicich and everyone else involved with saving her life.
“Sophia is kind. She is brilliant. She is full of life. She’s an innocent child who was attacked while in prayer. Words cannot begin to describe the terror and heartache that come with learning such devastating details,” he said.
“These past 10 days have been the longest and hardest of our lives. I stand before you today on behalf of my family to thank every person who helped get Sophia from the pew where she lay wounded all the way to Dr. Galicich’s operating room,” he added. “Thank you for using the talents God gave you to save our daughter.”
Tom Forchas also urged supporters to continue praying for his daughter.
“Continue to pray for Sophia, pray for peace,” he said. “Pray with vigor. We need you to keep the fervor with which you are praying and when you pray, move your feet.”
A GoFundMe campaign to help Sophia and her family had raised nearly $1 million as of Friday evening.
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