After 281 days, girl stabbed in Parnell Square attack discharged from hospital
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The young girl who was critically injured in an attack on Dublin's Parnell Square last year has been discharged from hospital after 281 days, her family have said.
The then five-year-old was one of three children who, along with their carer, were attacked by a man wielding a knife at Coláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East on November 23, 2023.
The children's carer, Leanne Flynn, was discharged from hospital shortly before Christmas. The other two children, a boy and a girl, were discharged in late November.
A man in his 50s, Riad Bouchaker, has been charged in relation to the attack.
A GoFundMe page was set up in the wake of the attack to help the five-year-old girl with her recuperation. The page raised almost €100,000 during that time period.
In a post on the page on Tuesday, the girl's family confirmed the girl had been discharged last Friday, August 30, having spent 281 days there.
The family said last Friday marked the beginning of "a new chapter in our darling's rehabilitation".
Last week, the family stated that their lives had been "turned upside down" by the attack.
They said the day of the attack had started as a normal day before the girl's parent got "the worst phone call I could ever get" that afternoon.
They said that, when they attended the "horrific site" of the attack, they saw their little girl lying on the ground, with paramedics by her side "trying to get her heart beating and air in her lungs".
They said the girl was "brought back to life by the amazing team at Temple Street Children's Hospital".
"Some people wonder why it has taken her so long to recover and if she will be the same little girl as before," they wrote in a post on the GoFundMe page.
"The human brain is a very complex organ. Deprive it of oxygen for too long and the body suffers. The longer it takes to get it working again, the longer it is to regain function."
The family also described their daughter as their "little warrior".
"[She] has a few things going for her: she is young, she was a healthy girl before this all happened, she has a great team working with her, a loving family, loving friends, and prayers from all over."
The family said the girl has "improved so much already".
"We have learned the beauty of patience and perseverance. One hour at a time turned into one day at a time. Now we go one week at a time. Soon it will be one month at a time."