Mom: Several surgeries ahead for Walmart shooting victim

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Amber Cook is starting the long journey of recovery after she was shot Thursday night at the west side Walmart.

We’re keeping in touch with her mom, Jenny Couch, who says Amber had her second surgery on Sunday.

[Previous: Mother of Walmart shooting victim gives update on her condition]

Jenny says Amber keeps telling people she’s okay, but Jenny knows better.

“I know my daughter, I can hear it in her voice,” said Couch. “She’s not okay, and she’s staying strong for all of her family.”

Jenny says when Ronald Mosley shot Amber, the bullet went in and out near her right eye.

She just completed her second surgery, during which the eye was removed.

Doctors tell her they’re planning on at least four more surgeries, including to reconstruct the top of her forehead, her lower jawline, and her nose. These surgeries could be followed with plastic surgery as well if Amber isn’t happy with her appearance.

She says Amber will eventually have a prosthetic eye, but she doesn’t want one that reminds her of the one she lost.

(jenny couch, amber’s mom)

“‘If I gotta walk around with this for the rest of my life, I guess, she said I would really like to get one decorated so people,’ I’m sorry, people will know she’s a survivor,” said Couch.

Amber is recuperating alongside her mom as well as her boyfriend, who Jenny says was also a target in Mosley’s attack.

Along with all the physical injuries, Jenny says Amber’s also showing other signs of trauma.

“She’s having real bad panic attacks and every time she does go to sleep she says she’s having nightmares,” said Couch. “Even when she’s awake, she’s like, ‘Mom, I can still hear it, it’s like a replay over and over.’”

Jenny says she doesn’t yet have a timeline on Amber’s recovery, and she says they need the community’s support to get her there.

“Keep praying for her,” said Couch. “This is for sure going to be a very long, hard road for her; and it’s something she’s going to have to deal with for the rest of her life.”

Jenny says they’re trying to raise money to help cover the cost of Amber’s medical expenses. For more information, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/e9ne6-ambers-expenses.

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