One of the three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot in Vermont last month is paralysed from the chest down after a bullet lodged in his spine, the student’s family has said, Reuters reports.

Hisham Awartani, a 20-year-old student at Brown University who grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was walking with two friends near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington on Nov. 25 when police say 48-year-old Jason Eaton shot them with a handgun in a suspected hate crime.

Eaton has pleaded not guilty.

Tahseen Aliahmad, who attends Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, who attends Trinity College in Connecticut, were expected to recover fully.

But Awartani — whose grandmother the three 20-year-olds had been visiting over Thanksgiving break from school — received a much graver prognosis, according to a statement his family wrote for a fundraiser to offset his medical expenses.

“He has demonstrated remarkable courage, resilience and fortitude — even a sense of humour — even as the reality of his paralysis sets in,” Awartani’s family wrote on their GoFundMe page, which had raised over $200,000 as of Sunday morning.