Fighting for their lives
Zulfirman Syah gave up his own body to shield his 2-year-old son from a gunman’s bullets.
When the shooter burst into the Linwood Islamic Centre on Friday and opened fire, Syah was shot multiple times while shielding his son. Syah is in Christchurch Hospital after undergoing surgery on Saturday. His son, Averroes, suffered minor injuries to his leg and had surgery to remove shrapnel on Saturday. He is the youngest injured victim of the mass shooting currently in Christchurch Hospital
Syah is one of many still seriously injured after Friday’s shooting at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave and the Linwood Masjid, where 50 people were killed.
Syah’s wife, named on a GoFundMe page for the family as Alta Sacra, posted online about her husband’s heroism on Saturday.
‘‘My husband . . . shielded our son during the attack at Linwood Islamic Centre, which caused him to receive most of the bullets and much more complex injuries than our son. He is in stable condition following the extensive exploratory and reconstructive surgery he had,’’ Sacra said.
‘‘While the road to recovery will be long, his condition has only improved since he arrived at the hospital.’’
Yesterday, Sacra posted that her son was still in hospital, but doing well. ‘‘Our little guy, Averroes, is also doing well, but there has not been a hospital discharge date set. It is hard to keep this energetic 2-year-old down.’’
She said her husband was still in Christchurch Hospital’s ‘‘Surgical Progressive Care Unit’’, but he was making ‘‘progress daily’’.
Nine survivors remain in a critical condition in intensive care. Christchurch Hospital is treating 31 patients in total from the mass shooting.
Muhammad Amin Nasir, 67, is in hospital with a badly damaged kidney and lungs. He has had three surgeries since Friday and is expected to be kept in an induced coma for several more days. ‘‘There’s no strength in his body,’’ his son Yasir Amin said, ‘‘[The doctors] want some strength and they’re unsure how the body would respond if they wake him up now.’’
The father and son were walking along Deans Ave on Friday. The gunman, fleeing the mosque in a car, saw them and stopped.
Amin saw the gunman take aim with a weapon through the passenger window. He looked at his father and told him to run.
‘‘When I saw the gun that close I told my father to run away,’’ Amin said, ‘‘We both ran but I was maybe two steps ahead.’’
Glass from the front passenger window of the car exploded onto the footpath as the gunman opened fire from the driver’s seat. Amin called out to his father to get down as they ran.
‘‘When I turned he was lying down on the ground. Initially I thought maybe he heard me. [Then] I saw my dad and there was blood all around his body.’’
Amin moved to New Zealand from Pakistan five years ago, and lived in Christchurch with his wife and children. His father lived in Pakistan and had been visiting Amin. ‘‘I can’t forget the scenes which I saw with my own eyes,’’ Amin said. ‘‘[I’m] trying to stay strong. I’m good.’’
One of nine victims in critical condition is Wasseim Alsati’s 4-year-old daughter Alen. They both suffered serious injuries after being shot at Masjid Al Noor. Alen was transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland on Saturday and underwent surgery on Sunday. Alsati had several surgeries in Christchurch before being moved to Auckland Hospital on Sunday night to be close to his wife and daughter.