Girl stabbed in Parnell Square attack improving since being discharged from hospital
At Dublin's On Picture: Tributes Left Collins/collins Photos Parnell Scene Flowers Square The And Stephen
The young girl who was critically injured in an attack on Dublin's Parnell Square last year has been improving since she was discharged from hospital.
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.
A GoFundMe page was set up in the wake of the attack to help the girl with her recuperation. The page has raised almost €114,550 since then.
In an update on the page on Tuesday, the girl's family said she has been “more in control of her neck movements” and can lift her head “more and more without assistance.”
According to the update, the girl can also “move her arms up purposefully” and grasp objects “with full intent.”
She is also working on her ability to communicate through a computer programme, and is “getting faster at it.”
The update states that “she is so loving”, and even when she is having a “rough day” she will “still smile when people walk in the room.”
She also loves pretending to hide, and “gets a good laugh out of it.”
“Almost a year in. Time has flown, and we have come so far. We still have so much to accomplish,” the update concluded.
In September, the now six-year-old was discharged from Temple Street Children's Hospital after 281 days of recovery there.
The children's carer, Leanne Flynn, was discharged from hospital shortly before Christmas, and 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.
At the time, the incident triggered a wave of unrest in the city, which led to riots, looting and vehicles being set on fire.
In a previous update, the girl’s family said 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".