Thusha Kamaleswaran was hospitalised for more than 12 months after a bullet shattered her spine.
A young schoolgirl who was shot in the chest at her uncle’s shop in Stockwell spoke this week about taking her first steps after being told she could never walk again.
Seven-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran was hospitalised for more than 12 months after a bullet shattered her spine leaving her paralysed and close to death in March 2011.
Thusha, who became a victim of gang crime at just 5, has now been able to take her first steps with the help of a treadmill.
As well as doing two hours of exercise every day, she still dreams of being a dancer.
“I’ve already taken some steps on the treadmill in my harness with my physio helping me. I want to dance around and play basketball with my friends,” she told ITV’s Daybreak.
Her father, Jeyakumar Ghanaskaram, said on the show, “Seeing her walking again, even with that support, was like a miracle.”
Thusha was an innocent victim of gang crime as three men fired in the shop indiscriminately as they targeted a rival gang member.
The rate of gang crime in Lambeth is extremely high and is home to a quarter of all London’s youth gangs.
According to research commissioned by Lambeth Council there are approximately 40 gangs, with members being as young as 14, operating across the borough.
The council have outlined several plans to tackle this issue including a new intelligence gathering unit to target young criminals, youth centres operating seven days a week and a hotline for worried parents.
For more information and to support Thusha with donations, please visit: www.thushafund.co.uk
Photo courtesy of yahoonews343, via YouTube, with thanks.
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