"Going on adrenaline and still numb," Fiona Coffey says her daughter will never be the same after she was stabbed at the Australian National University.
Ilysha Perry remains in Canberra Hospital's intensive care unit in a serious but stable condition.
Ms Coffey had just spent the weekend in Canberra with her daughter before driving back to Batemans Bay on the NSW coast, two hours away.
Hours after getting home, she got the call every parent dreads.
"Not my precious baby" was the only thing going through her head after picking up the phone.
"Shock, disbelief, we didn't know whether she was going to survive or not so that was the worst part for me," she told reporters at Canberra Hospital on Monday.
"I just dropped everything, got in the car and drove straight there.
"I feel pretty lucky that she had hung on that long to see me."
Grateful her daughter was still alive, Ms Coffey thanked the community and her other five children for their support
But whether the 20-year-old arts student would make a full recovery was still unknown a week later.
"She's going to have some serious long-term issues but hopefully she'll recover," Ms Coffey said.
"But she'll never be the same."
Despite being a private person, Ms Perry was also described as the "quieted, loveliest girl you'd ever meet".
"We're all devastated but she's a bit better today, so that's a good day," her mother said.
Ms Coffey also had a defiant message for other students.
"ANU is a safe place ... don't let fear stop you from reaching your dreams and don't let that fear change the path that you're on," she said.
"Be brave, be strong, be heroes like Ilysha."
Alex Ophel, 24, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after police alleged he stabbed two women at ANU and assaulted two men.
Ophel has also been charged with two counts of assault and one count of possessing an object to be used to kill.
He allegedly hit a male student on the head with a frying pan before the victim fled the scene and then stabbed the first female student and chased the second woman before stabbing her.
It's alleged he then approached a second male student and struck him with the frying pan.
Ophel will reappear before the ACT Magistrates Court on October 17 after a mental health assessment.
