NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — 13-year-old Olivia Damian remains in the hospital working towards recovery after a gunman shot her in the head and killed five others in a shooting spree in June, including her 20-year-old brother Christopher Damian who was posthumously honored on Wednesday for his bravery during the shooting.
“I got here [hospital] the night of, immediately after, or as soon as I was briefed by, you know, law enforcement on the scene as to what was going on. They couldn’t give me details, but they let me know that Olivia was on her way to the hospital. So, I came here [hospital] right away," said Diego Damian, Olivia and Christopher's father.
"From the time that she got admitted here, you know, it didn’t look very good, it was kind of grim, or the outlook was kind of grim. She was in an induced coma, I guess if you will, just because the nature of the injury. Medical staff didn’t want too much stress on her... anything that might cause—to put her in any disarray."
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Damian said Olivia was in critical care for roughly two weeks but was recently taken out of critical care and moved to a regular pediatric room.
He said his daughter was shot in the part of the brain that controls her speech, and she is slowly making progress to get back to where she was before the shooting.
"It’s been milestone, after milestone. Every day you see her, you see something new. It’s been great to see her, I am excited to see her every day because, you know, let's see what she is going to do today, right? What brand new thing is she about to do? So, it’s been good, good, seeing her progress this far," her father said.
Damian told Channel 13 that Olivia could be moved to a different hospital to continue her recovery process.
However, he said part of her treatment has gotten expensive and his insurance doesn't cover much, which is why he is leaning on the community for help.
His family has created a GoFundMe to help offset some of the expenses for Olivia's recovery.
If you would like to help, you can click here.
