A fundraiser on GoFundMe for an Indonesian man and his 2-year-old son, both of whom were hospitalized after the horrific mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, last Friday, is trending on the crowdfunding platform.
The online fundraiser, linked here, aims to raise money to assist in the medical bills of an Indonesian man named Zulfirman Syah AKA Jul and his toddler son Averroes, who were confirmed on Friday by Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry as two surviving victims of a shooting at one of the two mosques that were attacked. The ministry stated that the father was at an ICU and was in critical condition while his son was receiving standard care.
The fundraiser was created by a friend of Jul’s wife, Alta Marie, who herself shared a link to the page on her Facebook. On the GoFundMe page, Alta described the horrors her husband and son lived through during the attack, as they were told to her as she was not with them at the mosque at the time.
Zulfirman Syah (my husband) shielded our son during the attack at Linwood Islamic Centre, which caused him to receive most of the bullets and much more complex injuries than our son. He is in stable condition following the extensive exploratory and reconstructive surgery he had earlier today. While he is still in the intensive care unit at this stage, he will be moved to the general ward whenever it is deemed appropriate (likely in the next day or so). While the road to recovery will be long, his condition has only improved since he arrived at the hospital yesterday. This afternoon he had a visit from the Indonesian ambassador, which lifted his spirits.
Averroes (our son) sustained minor injuries and had surgery this morning to extract some shrapnel while checking for internal injuries. He is recovering nicely and has been cheerful while keeping the staff on the children’s ward entertained with his talkative and energetic nature.
Alta posted an update on Jul and Averroes’ conditions on Facebook this morning, and, according to her, things are “looking positive” for both.
https://www.facebook.com/altasacra/posts/10161656433580644
In a recent Facebook post, Alta stated that she would not entertain any media inquiries for now and has asked for the public to respect her little family’s privacy until they are ready to tell their story.
As of this morning, more than 500 donors have raised US$23,000 in the two days that the GoFundMe campaign to help Jul and Averroes was launched, almost halfway towards their US$50,000 goal. You can consider making a donation here.
Aside from Jul and Averroes, another known Indonesian victim of the mass shootings was 50-year-old aircraft engineer Lilik Abdul Hamid, who was sadly killed in the attack.
The attack on two crowded mosques in Christchurch during Friday prayers left at least 49 people dead, New Zealand police said, on what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”.
Police say four people — three men and a woman — have been taken into custody, and that they had found and neutralized a number of IEDS (improvised explosive devices). One of the men has already been charged with murder.
