The husband of a 41-year-old woman who was shot in a drive-by shooting in Toronto last month is speaking out.
Toronto police were called to the area of McCowan Road and Lawrence Avenue East at around 2:41 p.m. on June 30 for reports that shots had been fired from a vehicle.
Officers said a female and a male — who were in separate vehicles — were found with gunshot wounds.
One of the victims, 41-year-old Anna Liu — has been identified.
Speaking to Global News through a translator, Liu’s husband, Guoxiang Yin, said his wife was in a coma for 11 days following the shooting and has undergone several surgeries, including facial reconstruction to repair where she was struck by a bullet.
Yin said Liu is now “fully awake” but is often confused and is in extreme pain.
“She has no idea what happened to her or the damage,” Yin said through a translator. “She only knows she can’t see from her eye. She kept asking why. ”
According to Yin, his wife was leaving school on the day of the shooting.
“She went to school that day and she only remembers that she came out from school at 2:30 p.m. and someone was shooting at her,” he said.
A GoFundMe set up for Liu suggests she was struck with three bullets.
“The first bullet penetrated her right eye and skull,” the GoFundMe read. “Cranial surgery was performed to remove the bullet; however, some fragments could not be removed and remain inside Anna’s brain. Facial reconstructive surgery was also performed in an effort to restore the basic structure of Anna’s face.”
Yin said Anna becomes “very scared” any time there is a loud noise now, fearing there’s another shooting.
“She asks ‘What happened to my shoulder? What happened to the rest of my body? Are there any bullets left in my body?’ and I couldn’t say anything,” he said. “Every day I tell her ‘Don’t be afraid, I am here.'”
Yin said he tried calling his wife’s phone the day of the shooting, but no one answered. Finally police answered and told him to go to the hospital where she was taken.
“My first impression — I couldn’t believe this was all happening to me,” he said. “Second — (I thought) Canada is a dangerous country now.”
“My wife has always been trying to study really hard since we came, and we had no idea such a thing would happen to her,” he continued.
Yin said doctors are not sure to what extent Liu will recover, or how long the road to recovery will be.
“I don’t have any dreams now,” he said. “I just wish her to get better.”
Liu was moved from Sunnybrook hospital to Markham Stouffville hospital, where she remains.
“I’m not sure when she will be coming home,” he said. “I have no idea, and she’s not doing very good.”
Yin said Liu was studying to be an estitician and was one month from graduating. She also worked part-time to make extra money during her studies.
Liu and Yin have been married for 20 years, and live together in Scarborough. Before the shooting, the couple were hoping their 17-year-old son would join them in Canada sometime in the fall.
“We loved it here, we both study and we try to work as well,” he explained. “She studied a lot and I work a lot. We felt our future here was looking great before this happened.”
Yin said he told their son there was a “little accident,” but that his mother will “recover soon.”
Now, Yin is hoping he will come to Canada as soon as possible to see his mother.
A 24-year-old man from Mississauga was arrested in the Peel Region on July 1 in connection with the incident.
Officers said he was charged with several offences including three counts each of attempted murder and discharging a firearm with the intent to wound or endanger life.