Aveda opens her eyes

Aveda Mc Carthy, the two-year-old girl shot by a stray bullet last Wednesday, opened her eyes for the first time on Saturday night. She was also able to move her hands but there was no movement on the lower part of her body. Doctors at the Intensive Care Unit at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) at Mt Hope, have expressed concern over the progress of the child’s condition, and speculated that the injury may have affected her spine. A spine specialist will examine Aveda today, and carry out tests to determine if she is paralysed from the lower part of her body. Her grandmother Elizabeth told Newsday that Aveda is still hooked up to machines at the Intensive Care Unit and appears to be very weak.

Her heartbeat raced when she opened her eyes on Saturday and saw her mother Oneka. Doctors were able to stabilise the heartbeat. The bullet which struck Aveda entered the left side of her abdomen and believed to have caused minor spinal damage. The bullet was removed during an emergency surgery carried out at the EWMSC shortly after Aveda was shot. Police officers investigating the shooting told Newsday that they have been able to identify one of the two gunmen who fired shots at the car in which Aveda was an occupant. The suspect who has links with a Muslim organisation is believed to be in hiding. Aveda’s father Ricardo Mc Carthy suffered gunshot wounds to the hands and feet in the brazen early morning shooting attack which occurred in the vicinity of the Central market last Wednesday. Cpl Franklyn of the Besson Street Police Station is investigating.