Doctor says 5 girls who survived Amish school attack face difficult recovery

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/11/2006 (6929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – One is completely disabled. Another may never again have use of an arm.

All five Amish girls who survived last month’s schoolhouse massacre suffered severe gunshot wounds with long-term implications, a physician familiar with their medical treatment has told The Associated Press.

Five of their schoolmates were killed in the Oct. 2 attack at the West Nickel Mines Amish School.

Two survivors were severely wounded in the head, said Dr. D. Holmes Morton, a pediatrician and director of the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg.

A neurosurgeon told Morton about a week ago that one of the two was expected to remain in the rehabilitation facility at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia until December. The other is considered fully disabled and is being tended to by her family at home.

“She is not expected to recover much function, if any,” Morton said. “Hers is almost a case of palliative care.”

Morton said the other three survivors have “face and limb wounds that will be disabling for a long time, if not permanently.”

“They’re kids who are pretty damaged and will have long-term consequences for these wounds,” he said.

Morton described the girls’ injuries on Wednesday, the first time a physician with direct knowledge of their care talked about their recoveries.

The 32-year-old gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, committed suicide as police surrounded the one-room Amish schoolhouse where he had barricaded himself.

One surviving girl’s shoulder joint was so badly damaged that she may never recover the use of her arm. Another girl was wounded in the face, but did not suffer brain damage and is recovering “pretty well.” There were also pelvic and hand wounds, he said.

The tragedy has been difficult for family members, particularly the boys who Roberts allowed to leave the school before he opened fire on the girls, Morton said.

“What kind of scars it will leave in that small group of families and the community at large, it’s hard to say,” he said. “But almost certainly some.”

Donations to pay for the girls’ treatment and to support Roberts’ widow and three children have poured in from around the world.

Rich Lauer, director of the Anabaptist Foundation, said his organization had collected $1.4 million, much of it in donations of $50 or less and often accompanied by an expression of sympathy.