As the Christchurch Mosque attacks that killed 51 and injured 49 approach its first anniversary, some of the survivors are still struggling to get back on their feet and lead a normal life. The incident has not only inflicted physical injuries on their bodies but etched a permanent scar on their memories that haunt them and their families till date.
Mohammad Shahadat, a survivor of the bullet injury to his right shoulder while trying to help a fellow devotee at the Linwood Mosque on March 15 last year, has undergone six major and minor surgeries and still reels under excruciating pain that has led to many sleepless nights.
Shahadat, a chef at the then newly opened branch of the Auckland based Bawarchi restaurant in Christchurch, went to offer his Friday congregational prayers like any normal Friday and was struck down with the bullet on his right arm.
Shahadat already underwent five surgeries to his shoulder and arm within the six months of the attack where the doctors tried to take shrapnel from the bullet that pierced his collarbone and burst damaging nerves near the neck, spinal cord, shoulder and right hand.
Earlier in February this year, the doctors operated him again cutting a part of his hip bone and fixing it on his shattered shoulder. Barely four weeks since his last surgery, Shahadat feels not much relief as he is still unable to use his right arm and started feeling numbness in two fingers of his left hand.
Fresh from the surgery, Shahadat awaits doctors’ advice on the new ailment on his left hand and the existing condition of his right arm.
"The doctors have said there should be some relief on my main injury soon as the surgery was very recent, and they will monitor the progress of the operation. About my left hand’s fingers, the doctors said that the surgery might have affected some nerves connected to the left elbow and fingers. They will look into that too in his next appointment,” Shahadat told The Indian Weekender.
Shahadat lives with his wife and four children who joined him in April 2019, a month after the incident and is worried about the prospects of his life, career and his children.
“It has been a year since I have worked. I cannot use my right arm, still struggle to sleep comfortably on any side of the bed, get nightmares and the memories of that day still haunts my dreams.
“I go to the mosque to offer my prayers regularly, but my family still fears and struggling psychologically,” Shahadat says.
A talented chef, Shahadat misses the sound and essence of the kitchen and working under strict timelines to conjure up delectable dishes for his restaurant and its food-loving patrons.
“We as a family pray day and night for my condition to get better and to a position that I can get back to work and subsequently start living a normal working life, supporting my family,” he added.
Shahadat was also one of the 200 members (victims and victims’ family members) who were invited by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca last year.
Shahadat, despite going to through physical, mental and psychological hardships thanks to his creator for bestowing him with the precious life, and the broader community in New Zealand for the support and love received, not just by him but also by his family living here.
“Nevertheless, I am grateful to the community here and the government for taking such good care of people injured in the incident and me,” Shahadat says.
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