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Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

“She doesn’t remember anything that happened that night. The info I have comes from CCTV,” said Rebecca, 25, a doctor in Chennai, India.

“He shot her and he also slashed both sides of her neck. That injured all her vessels.”

The attacker remains on the loose.

Rachel was rushed to hospital and was in a medically induced coma for 12 days. Her parents arrived on Feb. 5, the same day she awoke. Since then, the rehabilitation has been brutal. She had several surgeries – the last of which was to re-piece her skull together. Rachel has also suffered nerve damage from the stab wounds. Her vision is blurry.

“The doctors can’t take the bullet fragments out because it would cause more damage,” said Rebecca.

“She’s trying to recollect things by reading news articles, but it’s too stressful for her right now, so she’s resting. She said, ‘I could have died, but this is more painful than being dead’ and ‘I can see my blood on the floor.'”

Doctors have estimated up to two years for recovery, but Rachel’s sister said she’s shown progress – enough so, that she was released from hospital on April 9.

Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

“She didn’t have movement in her left hand and left leg and now, she’s able to take things in her left hand and walk normally. Her typing, reading and speaking is slower. When she reads, she misses a few words,” Rebecca said. “It’s too early to talk about traumatic brain injuries, because you can only decide whether it’s permanent after one or two years.”

Now, Rachel faces a new obstacle – not getting her student visa renewed when it expires in September. As part of the requirement to keep it in good standing, students cannot take a leave of more than 150 days of classes. Nearly 90 days have already elapsed with no end in sight because of classes cancelled from the pandemic. Her university health insurance plan is also expiring on Aug. 31.

The family of four is currently staying at an Airbnb rental in Toronto, which has been paid for by the Indian consulate up until the end of April.

After that, the Alberts will have to scramble to pay for the cost of any rehabilitation that isn’t covered by Rachel’s university health insurance, which covers therapies she’s currently undergoing for only the next 14 weeks.