A man injured in the New Zealand terrorist attack has posted a heartbreaking video on social media, asking people to pray for his daughter who’s critically injured.
Wasseim Alsati, who moved to New Zealand from Jordan five years ago hoping for a better life for his family, asked everyone to pray for his five-year-old daughter in the video.
Alsati, a barber, was shot three times in the attack in which 49 innocent lives were lost during Friday prayers yesterday (March 15); his daughter Allen was also shot multiple times.
The shootings, which took place at two mosques in Christchurch, have been described by New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as one of the country’s ‘darkest days’. 49 people have been killed and around 20 people seriously injured at the time of writing.
What has happened in Christchurch is an extraordinary act of unprecedented violence. It has no place in New Zealand. Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities – New Zealand is their home – they are us.
— Jacinda Ardern (@jacindaardern) March 15, 2019
Lying in a hospital bed, Alsati took to social media to ask his friends to keep his family in their thoughts and prayers.
He wrote – alongside the video:
I am in big pain today. I was in a lot of pain after being shot 3 times. Please pray for me and my daughter. I will not be able to answer to all messages. Thank you for your understanding.
The worried father struggles to speak and looks in pain as he thanks everyone for their support, his voice straining as he lies in a hospital bed.
I am in big pain today. I was in a lot of pain after being shot 3 times. Please pray for me and my daughter. I will not be able to answer to all messages. Thank you for your understanding.
Posted by Wasseim Alsati on Friday, 15 March 2019
Alsati says in the video:
I’m very sorry to miss your calls and text messages, I will not be able to answer any of them right now, I am really tired.
Please pray for me and for my daughter, hopefully she will be so much better. I’m just posting this video to show you that I’m fully OK.
It’s been a pleasure to know you all guys, thank you for all your support and all the help you have given me so far.
God bless you all.
It’s now thought the five-year-old girl is in a stable condition, as a Twitter user thought to be close to the family, posted to say, ‘her blood pressure is rising and she’s a fighter’.
The woman also asked people not to spread rumours, adding both the little girl and her father are both alive.
If you’re concerned and need to contact a friend or relative please visit the International Committee of the Red Cross, who have set up a website by which you can restore links and register your own safety.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).