Armed police on Fulljames Ave in Mount Roskill following a firearms-related incident. Video / NZ Herald
A woman who was shot after confronting boy racers doing skids outside her home in the middle of the night has described feeling like she was drowning in her own blood after a bullet hit her chest.
The 34-year-old mother was in a critical condition after she was shot onAugust 10 on Fulljames Ave, Mt Roskill around 3.10am.
Neighbours fled their homes in terror after hearing shots and a car racing away.
Speaking exclusively to the Herald on Sunday, the injured woman said they had endured many nights of boy racer activity in the area.
"I heard cars revving and some people doing skids out on the road at 3am in the morning.
"I have a small baby, it was the fourth time this had happened.
"So I went out where my front gate is to tell them to go do it somewhere else.
"One of the cars reversed up on the right where I was standing by the fence and then suddenly I felt pain in my chest. I walked up to my front door and saw blood."
A 34-year-old woman was taken to hospital after suffering a gunshot wound on August 10. Photo / Hayden Woodward.
One of her relatives rang for an ambulance.
"It was like drowning in my own blood," said the woman, who did not want to be named.
"The bullet went from the front, hit the top of my lung and went through the bottom of it... if it had been two centimetres to the left I would not be here.
"It stayed in my chest wall. I did not realise how bad it was until I heard the doctor say I'll need surgery."
The victim of the Mt Roskill shooting showing the injuries she sustained when she was shot with an airgun outside her house on Fulljames Ave. Photo / Dean Purcell
The woman said she had been in pain every day since the incident.
"Still to this day if it's cold I get agonising pain down my back, which I believe will never go away.
"I've been put with an ACC psychologist for my trauma. I went to the doctor who laid out the actual injuries I had, which are a lot."
After coming back from the hospital, the woman said she was in panic mode.
"Because I had to stay straight, I slept on the couch to stay still. Wind noises kept me up. I was just scared.
"I couldn't pick my daughter up or even cuddle her, she would call out to me, 'Mumma... Mumma', and I just wouldn't be able to. I tried once but it was just too painful.
