Hair to the rescue for victim of air gun pellet, two

THE FAMILY of a two-year-old girl who was shot in the head by an air rifle believe she was saved by her thick hair.

Noorsadia Akhter was left with a pellet embedded in her forehead after being shot by an airgun sniper who fired at her while she was in her pushchair.

Her family believe she her hair took the force of the pellet before it struck her face.

Noorsadia was rushed to hospital after the attack but is now recovering at home in Bradford.

Her mother Noor Nahar, 26, said: “I am afraid it will happen to other children.”

Mrs Nahar was walking from the family’s home to pick up her seven-year-old daughter, Noor Ankis, from school when the incident happened, at 1pm on Wednesday.

She said: “My 12-month-old son, Zunaed Abdullah, was in the pushchair and Noorsadia was sat on the top of it, facing me.

“I had not gone very far and was near some trees when I heard a loud bang, like a gun.

“It seemed to come from an abandoned building about 50 yards away and I turned to look.

“When I turned back to the children, Noorsadia was bleeding badly. “She was screaming and crying. I thought she was going to die. I could see there was something like a bullet in her head.”

Noorsadia was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary where she was given emergency treatment and the pellet was removed. Sergeant Graham Dyson said: “We believe the pellet was fired from a derelict building to the rear of Cockroft Grove.”