Abigail Kopf got all dressed up and went to homecoming this weekend — an otherwise normal rite of passage made remarkable by the fact that the teen was gravely injured after being shot in the head during an Uber driver’s alleged 2016 shooting spree.
The 15-year-old, who looked lovely in a purple gown with rosettes across the neckline and delicate spaghetti straps crossing in the back, posed for photos with her boyfriend, who topped off his look with a black cowboy hat, before heading to the big dance on Saturday evening.
“She had wonderful night at homecoming last night,” her mother Vickie Kopf tells PEOPLE. “She looked amazing and beautiful.”
Vickie captioned the Facebook post, “My beautiful baby and her handsome boyfriend homecoming night.”
The celebratory evening followed another milestone: Abigail was able to start high school in September. She attends classes at her school in Battle Creek, Michigan, for two to three hours each day, her mother told local station WOOD TV8.
These everyday moments represent welcome progress in the life of the teen, who has endured multiple surgeries, hospital stays and setbacks after the shooting an Uber driver allegedly went on a shooting spree Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Abigail and another person were injured and six people were killed during the mass shooting on Feb. 20, 2016.
Vickie says her daughter still suffers from severe depression and remains distraught about the loss of Barbara Hawthorne, 68, a close family friend that Abigail called her grandmother who was killed in the shooting.
Abigail is “missing her grandmother horribly,” Vickie says. “Pushing past that horrible night, she tries to live her life the best way she can now.”
Abigail has had much to overcome following the shooting, which caused severe injuries: her heart had stopped, her pulse was undetectable and discussions had begun about organ donation.
But the teen surprised everyone when not long after, she managed to wiggle her toes and squeeze her mother’s hand. However, her ongoing recovery has been bumpy, marked by a mix of both gains and setbacks.
At one point, her mother said Abigail was back to “square one” after an incision in her head became so infected with MRSA bacteria that doctors had to remove a plastic plate that had been shielding her skull after a portion of it had been removed.
Earlier this year, however, a new plate was inserted and she continued recuperating, though she will suffer from health problems the rest of her life.
“She has a lifetime of learning to deal with a traumatic brain injury, adjusting medications, coping with ongoing headaches,” her mother said on a Facebook page chronicling her recovery. “This will always be the case; it will never change.”
But there’s joy as well, her mom says. The redhead with a pixie haircut will celebrate a birthday this month and her mother is planning a big party.
“It’s her sweet 16, I can’t wait to celebrate it with her,” she tells PEOPLE. “It will be great; Abbie has a huge surprise coming.”
The man accused of carrying out the rampage, 47-year-old Jason Dalton, is charged with six counts of murder, as well as assault and other charges. He is awaiting trial.