Hundreds of people touched by the plight of Thusha Kamaleswaran have raised more than £20,000 towards the care she will need for the rest of her life.
The six-year-old is paralysed from the chest down after being shot while dancing in her uncle’s shop.
The Metropolitan Police’s Trident team, who investigated her case and set up a fund which was launched on Tuesday, said they were “overwhelmed” by the public response.
The girl’s father, who gave up work to be at his daughter’s bedside, yesterday revealed how his family had been plunged into severe debt and emotional despair. Jeyakumar Ghanasekaram, from Ilford, said: “We have lost everything. We have no money and we don’t know what will happen to us in the future.”
About 15 Met officers are doing the Three Peaks challenge in September to raise money for Thusha and the vital equipment she will require.
Detective Constable Richard Williamson, the CCTV officer in the case, said more than 400 people had donated so far.
He said: “We are a bit shocked by the response. It is quite overwhelming.”
Yesterday, speaking for the first time, Thusha said: “I am scared to get into the car because of the strangers all around us. I worry that someone will try to hurt me again.”
Thusha is permanently wheelchair-bound after a bullet hit her in the chest and passed through the seventh vertebra of her spine in March last year. She will require round-the-clock care for the rest of her life.
The most she will be entitled to from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is its maximum payment of £500,000.
Anyone wishing to donate can do so via The Thusha Appeal, HSBC Bank, 5 Wimbledon Hill Road, London SW19 7NF. Sort code: 40-07-30 and account number: 12239108.
