Man paralyzed in Quebec mosque shooting to receive $400K for accessible home

CTV News Channel: Mosque shooting victim speaks Quebec mosque shooting survivor Aymen Derbali, says he and his family have found a new home to move into and starts the rehabilitation soon.

A man who was paralyzed from the waist down in the horrific Quebec mosque shooting is about to receive more than $400,000 in donations to help him buy a wheelchair-accessible home.

“It’s a very heartwarming action,” Aymen Derbali told CTV News Channel on Friday.

On the evening of Jan. 29, 2017, a gunman opened fire at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, killing six worshippers and injuring 19 others -- five seriously. Derbali, a father of three, took seven bullets in the massacre. Witnesses say he was shot while trying to distract the gunman as others fled the mosque.

In December, Muslim-Canadian non-profit DawaNet launched an online fundraiser to help Derbali purchase a wheelchair-accessible home. By the time the fundraiser ended, it had raised $416,375 from 4,801 donors in more than 40 countries. DawaNet plans to present Derbali with the money on Saturday.

Derbali, who now uses a motorized wheelchair to get around, is currently living in a rehabilitation centre.

“I’m working to gain some autonomy,” Derbali said of his protracted stint at the centre. “I’m starting to move my fingers… (But) I have to deal with the pain. I have a lot of finger pain all the time.”

Derbali says he hopes to move into his new home by the summer. In January, he told The Canadian Press that he wants to live close to the mosque because prayer will help him heal his psychological wounds.

“We have already found a home,” Derbali added Friday.

After initially pleading not guilty to six charges of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder, 28-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette changed his mind on March 28 and pleaded guilty. Speaking in court that day, Bissonnette asked for forgiveness while denying that he was motivated by Islamophobia.

“My wife was very emotional in the case and she was crying after the hearing and she told me that he’s a human being,” Derbali said. “But I don’t know if he was sincere in that case, because Monday morning he pleaded not guilty, and after that he changed his mind quickly… In addition, he told (the court) that he is not a terrorist, he is not an Islamophobe. So I don’t know how... (he can) qualify this tragedy, these murders.”

With files from The Canadian Press