Victim back with family
wounds, where the two bullets had entered and exited his calf. They doped him up on morphine for the pain. And then he waited.
Alongside the 50 people who lost their lives at Al Noor and Linwood mosques, 48 injured patients flooded Christchurch Hospital. Of those, 11 were in a critical condition. Ditta was well down the priority list.
The surgeons operated at 8am on Saturday, removing the shrapnel and grafting skin from his thigh to repair the bullet holes. Twelve patients with minor injuries were discharged on Friday night, but 36 remained. Ward 19 became a press of anxious love as visitors swarmed to visit the injured.
The care was fantastic, but Ditta was pleased to be told he was one of two patients well enough to go home on Monday afternoon. There were no special meals or celebrations – just a relieved welcome from his family, morphine and sleep.
The wound will heal, they told him, but he could be out of action for three to four months. He is lucky – his work can continue, he will just have to hire drivers.
Of the 50 lives lost, some were their family’s sole breadwinner. Others were elders, who were the backbone of the community.
‘‘Nothing replaces the wisdom they had, the knowledge they had,’’ Ditta said. ‘‘They were our go-to people in times of need . . .
‘‘I’m just thinking of the others who are not here with us today, and people who are going through trauma and pain. I will be praying for them.’’
While he can manage the physical pain, the emotional damage is more difficult to repair.
‘‘At night I lay down, I still hear screams. I still hear the gunfire. The noises from people screaming. That’s still there.’’
But the attack will change nothing about Ditta’s feelings for Christchurch or New Zealand. He moved to New Zealand from Fiji more than 30 years ago, after the first coup. His two daughters – 21-year-old Sana and 25-year-old Zahra – have grown up here.
They’re both teachers. The support the family has received has been unbelievable.
And he will be back at Friday prayers when he can.
‘‘Our faith is very strong. The actions of one person is not going to deter us, or the community.
‘‘It will make us stronger. We will build that mosque again. We won’t let him win.’’