5 months and 8 surgeries later, Wawa shooting victim finally returns home

WARNING: This story contains graphic details. 

Bridgette Hagen is the kind of person who doesn't like to be in the spotlight – but she ended up in the headlines late last year when she became the victim of a gunman who randomly opened fire at her workplace, the Northern Credit Union in Wawa.

"I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I lead a very quiet life," she tells CBC News. 

She remembers every detail of the attack she suffered, but the story she wants to share now is one of recovery, resilience and family. 

Hagen says after being shot twice and sustaining life threatening injuries, she had to be airlifted out of Wawa to receive intensive care and multiple emergency surgeries in Sudbury. 

At that point, the doctors couldn't say whether or not she would make it.

"They were hopeful, that's all they could tell my husband," she remembered.

She was put into a medically induced coma and regained consciousness about five days later, surrounded by her loved ones.

"Recovering is the hardest thing I've ever had to do," she said. "But it's made me stronger than I've ever thought possible." 

The shooting left Hagen with scars, a shattered hip, an amputated right arm, a hole in her cheek and crippling post-traumatic stress disorder. 

"It was very difficult for me to understand that I had lost my arm, because what my brain knew and what my eyes saw were two different things," she said.

Eventually, drainage tubes and staples started to come out, and she could start learning new skills, like how to write with her left hand. 

"Me and my youngest daughter are learning how to write at the same time," she said. "She's going to be my teacher in this new adventure."

While she's approaching this with a positive attitude, she's also aware that simple day-to-day things like dressing, bathing, cooking, texting and tying shoes have now become a lot more complicated.