4yearold victim speaking

CHRISTCHURCH: The 4yearold girl who woke from a coma following the Christchurch mosque shootings after receiving critical injuries has spoken again.

Alen Alsati was unable to speak, see or eat by herself after she was shot several times at the Al Noor mosque.

A Facebook post from the Wass’ Barbers which set up a Givealittle page for Alen said she was speaking again.

‘‘Alen is speaking! (Slowly) English and Arabic! Thank you for all your prayers,’’ the Facebook post reads.

‘‘Now we need to get body control and eyesight back.’’

The page set up to assist the family has attracted more than $58,000 in donations.

Alen’s father, Wasseim Alsati, said earlier this month he ‘‘cried and cried’’ when he learnt his daughter suffered brain damage.

‘‘My daughter doesn’t recognise nobody yet.

‘‘She can’t speak, see, talk or eat by herself. She has a tube in her nose . . . it is heartbreaking,’’ he said.

The fatheroffour had surgery to remove shrapnel, for a perforated bowel and for pelvic injury.

The Government announced yesterday people directly affected by the Christchurch attacks can now apply to stay in New Zealand permanently.

The Government said the Christchurch Response 2019 category had been created to to give people on temporary and resident visas some certainty.

Applications can be made from today by anyone who was present at either mosque during the attacks and their immediate families. The definition of ‘‘immediate family’’ also includes dependent children, someone’s partner’s parents and grandparents of children under 25.

The exceptions are if the applicant was a police first responder or emergency worker, in the country as a tourist, or was only visiting for a short time.