Story highlights Boy shot in leg on the doorstep of his family home asks Santa to find his attackers

"Help the police catch the people who hurt me," he writes in festive letter

(CNN) It could be any seven-year-old boy's letter to Santa -- with one heart-wrenching exception: topping the list of requests for a walkie-talkie, Jurassic World game, and remote-control helicopter is a plea to find the gunman who shot him.

"1. Help the police catch the people who hurt me," writes Christian Hickey, after he was shot in the leg on the doorstep of his home in Manchester, England, last month.

Police issue image of 7-yr old boy in hospital bed after Salford shooting http://t.co/mq7f86PJwI pic.twitter.com/m4cK0XoG6Y — G M Police (@gmpolice) October 15, 2015

Christian and his mother Jayne, 30, were both shot in the legs after answering the door to two men on October 12.

Following a brief conversation in which the men reportedly asked for the schoolboy's father, Christian senior, the youngster was shot in his thigh and his mother hit in each leg.

They have now left hospital after numerous surgeries, but police say the pair face a "long road ahead" to recovery.

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