An 11-year-old girl shot in the face after an alleged argument outside a Tasmanian supermarket has woken from her coma.
Phoenix Newitt woke up in the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne early on Sunday morning, asking for her mother, Sarah.
‘[I’m] completely overwhelmed, I don’t know how to express how happy and emotional and excited I am that my little girl’s finally awake after five days,’ Ms Newitt told ABC.
‘I thought she was dead — I didn’t want to believe it in myself but that’s all I could say – “she’s dead.”‘
Phoenix Newitt (pictured) has woken up from her coma after being shot in the face last week
The 11-year-old was allegedly shot in the head last week while sitting in the back seat of car outside a house at Deloraine, near Launceston.
It came after Ms Newitt reportedly became involved in a physical fight with another woman at a nearby Woolworths supermarket.
The bullet reportedly entered the right-hand side window and rebounded off the car’s passenger door, lodging fragments in Phoenix’s neck and head which traveled to her heart.
Ms Newitt told ABC there was minimal damage done to the Year 5 student’s face, but fragments of the bullet are still in her brain, heart and lungs.
Ms Newitt (pictured with Phoenix) was reportedly involved in an argument with another woman that turned into a fight before her car was shot at nearby
Police say the shooting occurred after the women allegedly argued at a nearby Woolworths (pictured) before Ms Newitt and her children travelled to a house on Stagg Court
Phoenix may also be deaf in her right ear, but Ms Newitt says doctors are more concerned about the bullet fragments in her brain, and deafness is a ‘minor’ consequence compared to what could have been.
Nathan Richard Campbell, 25, who is accused of shooting the gun, fronted Launceston Magistrates Court in Tasmania on Friday afternoon.
He faces charges of grievous bodily harm and recklessly discharging a firearm.
Campbell’s lawyer said the case could not proceed at the time as the girl’s condition was ‘not yet properly determined’.
He is now expected to remain in police custody with case adjourned until September 7.
Phoenix (left) may be deaf in her right ear, and still has bullet fragments in her brain, heart and lungs
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