Mum paralysed by scumbags who stormed home and opened fire in front of daughter

A mum was left paralysed after "scumbags" broke into her home and shot her three times in front of her seven-year-old daughter.

Sinead Connolly was resuscitated twice while doctors desperately tried to save her life.

The 34-year-old then went into a coma for 15 days, as medics warned family members she only had an 8% chance of survival.

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The mum of one was left paralysed after one of the bullets hit her spine, while another tore through her lung.

But despite the traumatic attack, Sinead says she isn’t a victim but a survivor and refuses to let the "scumbags" win by giving up.

Speaking to the Irish Mirror, she said: “They are scumbags as far as I’m concerned. I’m so angry with them. They could have killed me, my friends and my child.

"They took my independence and my time with my child away. I used to walk everywhere and do all the things a mother does for her child and I can’t do any of that now, I have missed out on making special memories with her.

“I was holding on to life by a thread. My life has been a living hell since this all happened and I’m going to be in a wheelchair now for the rest of my life but I’m not going to let them win.

“I’m not a victim as far as I’m concerned, I’m a survivor and I will go on and have a life with my little girl.”

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Sinead is waiting to undergo two procedures that could give her back her independence, but it could take years.

The attack occurred in Bluebell, South Dublin, on March 6, 2020, and Sinead said her first thought was of her daughter Leah’s safety.

She said: “I just heard a bang which must have been the door being pushed in and then he shot me when I stood up.

“I was just thinking about Leah and my four friends, I was hoping nobody would open the door into the room they were in because if they did I believe he would have shot them too.

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“They were sitting on the floor holding the door closed with their backs. Leah said he tried to open the door and she heard a noise which I now believe was the gun maybe jamming.

“I just kept looking at that door before I lost consciousness. I was fighting to stay awake because I wanted to make sure Leah was safe.

“I didn’t care if he shot me six times as long as he didn’t go near that door. In the space of literally 30 seconds, my whole body started to shut down.

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“I’m so glad my friends were there at the time because they helped protect Leah and then stopped the bleeding in my chest and gave me CPR which probably saved my life.”

Dean McCarthy, of Bluebell, was jailed for 15 years in March 2022 after he pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

In May, Joseph Byrne, of La Touche Road, Bluebell, admitted possession of a semi-automatic handgun with intent to endanger life and was jailed for nine-and-a-half years.

In December Paul Mooney, of Ring Street, Inchicore was jailed for five years for disposing of the firearm used in the gun attack.

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