The miracle three-year-old survivor of Thai nursery massacre: Boy who was stabbed in head and shot twice makes miraculous recovery – as families perform Buddhist ceremony outside day care centre to ‘pray for children’s souls’
- On Thursday 36 people, including 24 children, were killed by Panya Kamrap
- The ex-cop went on a shooting rampage at a nursery in Uthai Sawan, Thailand
- Three-year-old Sumaee narrowly survived after being shot at twice and stabbed
- He was rushed to hospital where surgeons removed the bullets from his head
A young boy who was shot in the head twice and stabbed during the Thailand nursery massacre has miraculously survived.
Three-year-old Sumaee was at nursery in the rural town of Uhthai Sawan, when former police officer Panya Kamrap went on a shooting rampage, killing 36 people.
Kamrap opened fire in the nursery, murdering 24 sleeping children who had been taking their afternoon nap.
Sumaee narrowly survived the attack after being stabbed and shot at twice. Neurosurgeons removed the bullets from his head.
His mother Joy, said the young child was stabbed before he was shot at.
She almost ‘fainted’ when she heard the news about the shooting fearing her son had died. Moments later, however, her husband saw their young son being carried away into an ambulance.
Sumaee (pictured) miraculously survived the nursery massacre despite being shot at twice and stabbed in the head
Paveenut Supolwong, nicknamed Ammy, 3, (pictured) was the only child to emerge unharmed from the mass killing attack at the day care centre
Today mourners have gathered at a Buddhist temple in Uthai Sawan, Thailand, for a ceremony, grieving the lives of the 36 people who were killed
She told Sky News: ‘I was holding his legs and feet in the ambulance and trying to tell him to be strong.’
Joy, whose surname has not been revealed, had been distressed over the last conversation she had with her son before he was injured during the shooting.
The child had begged her not to go to school that day but his mum ‘forced him’ to go.
The small rural community is now mourning the ‘lost generation’ whose lives were taken on Thursday.
Three-year-old Paveenut Supolwong, nicknamed Ammy, is believed to be the only person who was left unscathed from one of Thailand’s deadliest mass killing.
The young girl had been taking a nap, hidden under blankets, when the shooter came in and shot her classmates, including her best friend who was sleeping beside her.
Her mother, Panompai Sithong, believed her daughter survived because the cold-blooded killer already believed she was dead.
Sumaee and his mother Joy. The young boy narrowly survived the attack after being stabbed and shot at twice – doctors were able to remove the bullets from his head
The three-year-old girl with her mother Panompai Sithong outside the temple where mourners had gathered
Mourners at Wat Rat Samakee temple in Uthai Sawan, tie white, yellow and red ‘soul strings’ around the child’s wrist to help her spirit survive the atrocity
After arriving at the scene someone found the young girl stirring as they were assessing the situation.
Emergency service workers carried out the three-year-old girl, covering her eyes so she could not see the deadly scene surrounding her.
Speaking after discovering her daughter was alive, Mrs Sithong told the Associated Press: ‘Breathing was difficult, I can’t describe it, but when I found out my child survived I was relieved.
‘But I also wanted to know if she had any injuries, if there was any collateral damage.’
At the time of the mass shooting, Mrs Sithong and her husband were at work in a Bangkok electronics factory, 500 miles away from the rural town.
The parents had moved to the capital for work, leaving their daughter behind to be cared for by her grandmother.
Coffins of the young victims of the nursery shooting massacre decorated with flowers
Panompai Sithong (pictured) said: ‘There’s both good luck hidden in bad luck – I’m lucky that my child is okay but I lost my cousin’
Mrs Sithong and her three-year-old daughter Ammy, who was the only child unharmed in the shooting
After hearing the news about the attack, the frightened couple made the journey back to the town.
Mrs Sithong added that her cousin had also been killed during the massacre.
She told Reuters: ‘I’m in shock. I feel for other families.
‘I’m glad that my kid survived. It’s a mixed feeling of sadness and gratitude.’
Mrs Sithong and her daughter went to a service at the temple to pay their respects.
Following the shooting, the family had to tell their young daughter that her best friend, two year old Techin and her teacher, had died.
He mother said: ‘She was asking her grandmother, “Why don’t you pick up Techin from school?”‘
Mourners tied dozens of white, yellow and red ‘soul strings’ around the child’s wrist to help her spirit survive the atrocity.
Buddhists believe that when a person experiences a tragedy, such as a mass murder, they lose part of their soul.
The relieved mother added: ‘It is to bring the spirit back into her body.
‘It’s like the spirit had left the body and it is being called back.’
Toys, juice boxes and flowers were laid outside the Buddhist temple, Wat Rat Samakee
Pictures of the young victims were displayed outside of their tiny coffins inside the temple
Wreaths of flowers, cuddly toys and notes were laid outside the nursery – home to Thailand’s deadliest mass shooting
Families offered flowers, dolls, popcorn and juice boxes to the children killed at the nursery as part of a Buddhist ceremony held today.
Relatives stood went back to the nursery in tears calling ‘come back home’ and ‘come back with us’.
Bereaved mother, Maneerat Tanoethong, whose three-year-old Chaiyot Kijareon was killed during the shooting, said the rituals were helping with her grief.
She told Associated Press: ‘I am trying not think about horrible images and focus on how lovely he was.
‘But I don’t know what I will do with myself once this is all over. I am determined that I will try let go of this, that I won’t hold any grudge against the perpetrator and understand that all of these will end in this life.’
A child sits next to the mother of a victim as she cries outside the nursery, where a former police officer killed at least 37 people in a mass shooting, in Thailand’s northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province on October 7, 2022
Buddhist monks pray for the victims of the mass killing in front of the Young Children’s Development Centre
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha pays his respects outside the day care centre
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to attend evening prayers at the three temples where bodies were brought later Sunday. He visited the day after the shooting to pay his respects.
The teacher who runs the day care centre, was in the kitchen when she heard the first shots fired outside.
She said: ‘I never thought he would go inside.
‘I can’t even imagine what this lost generation will mean to the community.’
The killer, Kamrap, was fired from the police over a drug charge.
After leaving the nursery, he continued his killing spree before shooting his wife and child at home.
He then shot himself, police said.
The headteacher at the nursery said the attacker’s son used to attend the nursery but had not been in more than a month.
Images of Kamrap’s innocent victims have since been released, including a heartbreaking image of two murdered twins and an eight-month-pregnant teacher.
Weerapat and Weeraphon Nuatkao, both three years old, and teacher Supaporn Pramongmuk were all among those killed in the massacre.
Her story emerged as pictures of the innocent victims of Khamrab’s rampage began to be released, including a heartbreaking image of two murdered twins (pictured). Weerapat and Weeraphon Nuatkao were both three years old
Eight-month-pregnant teacher Supaporn Pramongmuk (pictured left)) was also among the victims of the massacre
Picutred: Eight-month-pregnant teacher Supaporn Pramongmuk (left and right-middle) who was killed in the nursery massacre on Thursday afternoon in Thailand
Her husband Seksan Srirach posted a poignant tribute on Facebook. ‘I would like to thank all the support for me and my family.
‘My wife has fulfilled her every duty as a teacher.
‘Please be a teacher in heaven, and my child please take care of your mother in heaven.’
Killer Panya Kamrap (pictured) killed 36 people, including 24 nursery-aged children
Panya Khamrab (pictured right) shot dead his wife and son at the end of his brutal rampage in Thailand
Pictures have emerged of children playing in happier times at the Thai nursery, just months before it was targeted in the senseless attack (pictured). The youngsters are seen playing with teachers in brown uniforms and having them flowers in a religious ceremony in March this year
Pictures have also emerged of children playing in happier times at the Thai nursery, just months before it was targeted in the senseless attack.
The youngsters are seen playing with teachers in brown uniforms and having them flowers in a religious ceremony in March this year.
On Friday, the Thai King and Queen will visit the government-run childcare centre to comfort grieving relatives who are still coming to terms with the worst massacre in the country’s history.
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