A New Jersey woman is fighting for her life in hospital after she was shot twice in the head while vacationing in Guatemala with her husband.

Sara Inman and her husband James were visiting her family in Guatemala on September 19 when a mob ran their car off the road and opened fire on them.

The mother-of-two suffered two gunshot wounds to the head during the attack.

She was rushed to a hospital in Guatemala City fighting for her life and has remained heavily sedated for the past week.

Sara Inman, of New Jersey, remains in a hospital in Guatemala City after she she was shot in the head twice on September 19

Doctors say one bullet remains lodged in Sara's head and fear it is inoperable, according to her husband of 20 years.

The bleeding and swelling on her brain stopped over the weekend and Sara started to wake on Monday.

Doctors removed her breathing tubes and she has now started communicating with her husband.

It is not clear when she will be able to return to the US.

The couple's two teenage daughters, Elicia and Ashley, are staying with relatives while their mother continues to recover.

The mother-of-two was vacationing with her husband James when they were ambushed, run off the road and shot at by a mob

The bleeding and swelling on her brain stopped over the weekend and Sara started to wake on Monday

James told NJ.com that he has been struggling to communicate with doctors due to the language barrier.

'My wife was my translator, my rock and my world,' he said.

James started a GoFundMe page, Saving Sara, to help cover the rising costs of her medical bills. It has already raised more than $22,000.

'The constant barrage of well wishes, prayers and aid from total strangers keeps me strong for her and allows me to get through this,' James said.

'It restores my faith in humanity when I thought all was lost.'