Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Lydia Kaiser Returns to School After Annunciation Shooting, Shares Recovery Update

Her note highlights steady recovery after brain surgery alongside continuing calls for action on gun violence.

Overview

  • In a message shared via a verified GoFundMe, the 12-year-old said she is back in class, helps run the scoreboard, cannot yet play sports, tires more easily, and is having fewer headaches as her hair grows back after surgery.
  • Kaiser was shot in the head while protecting a classmate and sustained a traumatic brain injury that required removal of bullet fragments and a procedure removing part of her skull to allow swelling to heal.
  • She was released from the hospital in early September and returned to school later that month, according to family updates reported by local outlets.
  • The fundraising campaign for her recovery has collected more than $420,000 to help cover medical care and ongoing needs.
  • Authorities now count two students killed — Harper Lillian Moyski and Fletcher Merkel — and 30 injured, including 29 by gunfire with 26 juveniles, as families continue pressing lawmakers after Gov. Tim Walz’s call for a special session stalled in the divided Legislature.