THE family of a young mother shot by her Garda killer partner have said it is a "miracle" she survived the gun attack.
Siobhan Phillips was left with devastating injuries after she was shot several times by Co Down man Adrian Crevan Mackin while being escorted home by a Garda after making a complaint of domestic violence.
Garda Tony Golden, who accompanied Ms Phillips back to her home in Omeath, Co Louth, was shot dead by Mackin who then turned the gun on himself.
It had been feared that Ms Phillips would have no real quality of life after the attack but relatives - who have said that she lost an eye in the shooting - said she was slowly recovering after undergoing surgery to have a bullet removed from her head.
Ms Phillips was returning to the Omeath home she shared with Mackin on October 11 to collect her belongings to leave him, having endured nearly a year of physical abuse from him.
She had made a statement to Garda Golden (36), who travelled with her to the terraced house where they were gunned down by Mackin, who was originally from the Newry area.
More than two months on, Ms Phillips, who has two children with Mackin, is still being treated in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.
Her family said while she was slowly recovering, doctors said it was still "very early days" and they did not yet know how her brain had been affected.
Her aunt Lorraine told The Irish Daily Star: "The bullet hit off her skull and as a result of this injury she has lost her right eye".
But she said her niece "is doing okay but we won't know the full extent (of how she is) until she really starts talking".
"At the moment she is not asking questions about anything, she is not curious in anyway," she said.
Her aunt said they believed while the bullet to Ms Phillips forehead "never penetrated her brain...Siobhan doesn't know what has happened to her at all".
However, the family said they were taking comfort in her progress and she was "smiling and knows everything you are saying but she is not asking any questions".
"It is a miracle and that she is not paralysed. She seems to be getting there but it is a long road," she said.
Ms Phillips mother Bronagh also said: "I would like to thank the parish priests and the curates in Omeath and Carlingford parish, as well as Bishop Eamon Martin.
"The bishop went to visit Siobhan in hospital - that meant so much to us."
Her family say they wish "to have Siobhan well enough to leave hospital for Christmas day, but we don't think it will be this Christmas".
