School Shooting Survivor's Recovery Is 'Miraculous'

After being shot in the head during a Mass celebration at her Minneapolis Catholic school, 12-year-old Sophia Forchas is defying the odds with a remarkable recovery that has stunned doctors and inspired her community. The seventh grader was gravely injured during last month's shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, with doctors initially telling family members she was "on the brink of death," with a bullet lodged in her brain's right occipital lobe, per NBC News. Neurosurgeons considered removing the bullet too risky. Instead, they performed a decompressive craniectomy, removing part of her skull to allow her brain to swell.

Against the odds, Sophia's condition has improved. On Monday, Hennepin Healthcare released a statement from her family describing her healing progress as "nothing short of miraculous" and noting "steady progress" in her neurological recovery, per NBC. She's set to leave acute care this week for inpatient rehabilitation, though her journey will require extensive ongoing therapy. Sophia's mother, a health care assistant at Hennepin, went to work to help treat victims of the shooting before realizing her own daughter was among the wounded. More than $1.1 million has been raised for Sophia's recovery. Her 9-year-old brother, also present during the attack, wasn't physically hurt but faces emotional trauma.