They thought she was dead and were preparing her for organ harvesting when she squeezed her mother’s hand.
That alerted doctors that a 14-year-old victim of the mass shootings in Kalamazoo had survived. She’s now fighting to survive.
“My daughter is not dead,” her mother, Vicki Kopf, said Monday night, reported the Battle Creek Enquirer.
“She is alive and she is fighting for her life. I want everybody to understand that. Abigail is strong and she is a vibrant, beautiful, young lady. And she did not deserve this. And neither did her grandmother or those other victims.”
Initial reports were that Abigail Kopf had died after being shot once in the head, State police Lt. Dale Hinz said Monday.
Her parents told Hinz after the hand-squeezing, a doctor asked the girl a question, wanting a thumbs-up response.
Hinz says “she gave him two thumbs up” and “it’s a glimmer of hope in this otherwise tragic situation.”
The girl’s parents held a news conference Monday night along with a doctor from the hospital where she’s being treated. They say she remains on a ventilator in critical condition. Besides squeezing her mother’s hand, she also wriggled her toes.
“In spite of the seriousness of injuries we are encouraged by her relative stability over the last several days and her responsiveness to her parents and our team,” Lane-Davies said.
Abigail’s mother praised her daughter and said she didn’t deserve to be shot.
“I want everybody to understand that. Abigail is strong, and she was a vibrant beautiful lady, and did not deserve this,” said Vicki Kopf, reported WWMT.
“She was a very free spirit, she had an infectious laugh, and she gave the most wonderful hugs, and she didn’t deserve this.”
Authorities say Kopf was in a car outside a Cracker Barrel in the Kalamazoo area when she was shot Saturday.
Uber driver Jason Dalton has been charged with killing six, with Abigail and several others left wounded.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
