Mother of Florida School Shooting Victim Says Daughter Survived in ‘Miracle’

The mother of a Florida school shooting victim claims that it is a “miracle” that her daughter is still alive.

Maddy Wilford, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was one of 14 students injured in the deadly rampage and one of two students who remains in critical condition after she was struck by several bullets from an AR-15, the Daily Mail reports. Her mother, Missy Cantrell Wilford, posted an emotional update on Facebook revealing the extent of her daughter’s injuries.

“I have to thank my Lord and Savior for sparing my daughter’s life today. I feel Blessed beyond words, knowing that many didn’t survive. I wanted to give an update since there has been an outpouring of love and prayers on her behalf and I as her Mother I have truly felt them,” she wrote.

“Madeleine made it through her second surgery, she incurred multiple gunshot wounds with an AR-15 assault rifle. The surgeons didn’t know how many exactly, but she is alive which is a miracle. As the surgeons said, it only takes one,” she continued. “She had one that went through her back, crushing her ribs, piercing through her right lung and exiting through her stomach. Several went through the shoulder and traveled the length of her right arm before exiting. She lost so much blood, but she is stable and in ICU.”

While doctors seem positive that Maddy “is young and strong and will recover over time,” the high school student will need to undergo a third surgery to put in “permanent titanium plates to hold her ribs together.” Maddy is also currently on a ventilator.

“Even after all of that, the bullets missed her liver, reproduction organs, heart, she could have been paralyzed. It is a miracle,” Wilford concluded.

Maddy is among the more than a dozen students adults that were injured when suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz entered the Florida high school on Wednesday, Feb. 14, armed with an AR-15, several magazines of ammunition, a gas mask, and smoke grenades. The 19-year-old’s rampage left 17 dead, including 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, whose mother delivered an emotional message pleading Americans to put an end to gun violence.

A GoFundMe page has since been set up to help cover Maddy Wilford’s medical expenses.