NEW YORK — With her brown eyes wide open, Guiying Ma occasionally summons the strength to move her right leg and right hand, as her doting husband of more than 40 years tries to make her hospital bed feel more comfortable.
What Zhanxin Gao doesn’t know is if his wife even recognizes him.
“But as long as she hears what I am saying and her eyes are open, then I am very happy,” Gao said Saturday, speaking through a translator.
What You Need To Know
- Guiying Ma was attacked by a stranger, who police said bashed her in the head with a rock on Nov. 26
- She had surgery to open her skull to drain fluids, and was placed in a medically induced coma
- Her husband of more than 40 years, Zhanxin Gao, said his wife was sweeping a sidewalk when she was attacked
- Police have arrested 33-year-old Elisaul Perez on charges that include assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the attack
After Gao’s wife was attacked by a stranger, who police said bashed her in the head with a rock on Nov. 26, she had surgery to open her skull to drain fluids, and was placed in a medically induced coma.
Due to the omicron scare, Gao said he wasn’t able to see his wife until this past Monday, when visitors were cleared again to be bedside at Elmhurst Hospital. Gao admitted the past two and half months have been grueling.
“It’s all dried up,” he said. “I cried so much, it’s all dried up.”
When Gao saw her eyes open, he was overjoyed. But in the days since, he said her condition has not improved.
And while doctors are not sure if she will ever recover from paralysis to the left side of her body, which was a direct result of the attack, Gao remains hopeful that she will one day return to their home in Corona.
“I’ve known her for a very long time, since childhood,” he said. “We’ve known each other since childhood. We married at 22. Our relationship has been very great throughout the years. So it would mean a lot to have her back at home.”
Gao said his wife was sweeping the sidewalk of one of his landlord’s other properties at 97th Street and 38th Avenue when she was attacked.
He said he and his wife, who has an outgoing, bubbly personality, came to the U.S. from China four and a half years ago, hoping to make money in America.
They left behind their only child, a son, who is 39, and two grandchildren, a 15-year-old granddaughter and 10-year-old grandson. The family is now praying for a miracle.
Police have arrested 33-year-old Elisaul Perez on charges that include assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the attack. The Queens District Attorney's office said Perez admitted to investigators that he stuck a woman in the head with a rock.