Mother of child shot in Dublin says he may never regain full mobility

The mother of six year-old child Sean Scully has spoken of her family's anguish after he was shot in the neck in Ballyfermot.

Sean was shot while playing with a group of children outside his home in the Croftwood Gardens area on the night of Friday June 13th. Gardaí believe that he was not the intended target of the gun attack.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Liveline programme, Sean's mother Gillian Scully revealed how her son may never regain full mobility after the bullet grazed his spine before lodging in the top of his back left rib.

“(The spine) is severely bruised but they’re hopeful that he’ll eventually take a few steps. They said he’ll never get back to normal... It’s horrific. His life has changed forever, even though they’ve said they’re hopeful for a few steps that could be five or six years down the line,” said Ms Scully.

The incident occurred after the family had returned from a celebratory birthday meal for Sean’s older brother.

Having initially mistaken the sound of gunfire for a stolen car, Ms Scully was alerted to the unfolding tragedy by the screams of Sean’s friends as they fled from the crime scene.

“There was screaming; it was just bedlam. Sean was on the ground. He was awake and was asking ‘help me up, help me up’. It was just chaos... When people were trying to talk to him and keep him awake his eyes would roll, and I thought ‘he’s going’.

“After the operation when they were bringing him around he asked me what happened to him.

“At that stage I didn’t want to frighten him, I just wanted to make out to him that it wasn’t his fault, nobody was trying to hurt him,” said Ms Scully, who has remained by her son’s side at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.

Gardaí subsequently issued an appeal for information as they attempted to ascertain the identity of the two assailants who were believed to have carried out the attack.

Having already undergone surgery to correct some of the damage, Sean is in a wheelchair and still has no feeling below his chest. He frequently suffers from flashbacks to his terrifying ordeal.

“He was having flashbacks and nightmares. The muscles in his lungs are very weak. They don’t think he’ll get his cough back- he has to learn how to use the machines just to help him clear his throat, otherwise he’ll end up back in intensive care,” said Ms Scully.

Her testimony comes on a day when two further shooting incidents occurred in the city.

A recent Central Statistics Office publication outlined a substantial reduction in weapons and explosives offences in the State during the last year, however.