As a vascular surgeon, saving the life of a child was the highlight of Adib Khanafer's career. As a Muslim father, it was also one of his most heart-wrenching moments.

Dr Khanafer's voice broke as he spoke to reporters on Wednesday about what happened when he was called to the operating theatre after the Christchurch massacre on Friday.

Christchurch Hospital vascular surgeon Adib Khanafer is supported by a colleague as he speaks to the media. Credit:Monique Ford/Stuff

He knew immediately that something unusual had happened, because he wasn't just told to "come now" – he was also asked where he was, and how far.

When he arrived, he was confronted with the sight of a four-year-old girl with serious gunshot wounds in the operating theatre.

"It was really sad to see a young girl on a table," Dr Khanafer said, taking a second to gather his emotions.

"The bullet has really hit an area in the vein, which is really very difficult to repair … the bullet has damaged the pelvis and lower arteries have been cut."

Against the odds, he managed to repair the girl's injuries. She remains in a critical condition at Starship Children's Hospital, but Dr Khanafer was "optimistic" she would live.

Repairing her injuries "was definitely the highlight of my career as a vascular surgeon," he said.

As a Muslim father of four, Dr Khanafer felt that she could have been one of his own, he said.

"I have four kids, the youngest is seven and the oldest is 14," he said. "I've just imagined that this is one of my kids.

"I coped … I was able to perform my job, I left my emotion [until] after I repaired her. My colleagues were around me as well."

Dr Khanafer had to be supported by colleagues as he continued his statement.

"I come from England, I am of Lebanese origin, I'm Muslim, and I am Arab," he said.

"All my colleagues, Kiwis, haven't stopped texting me and emailing me and sending me flowers. That was really great and it made me proud working in this town."

Dr Khanafer said he knew two people who died in the attack, including one of his patients.

"My wife knows – as a woman, in her circles – she knows most of them … we knew some of them, we visited some of them," he said.

Dr Khanafer said he and his family are still coming to terms with the attack.

"We train, as surgeons, to really concentrate on your work, and you look after your patient. In a selfish way, family becomes a secondary thing," he said. "When you go back home, you really just try and digest and understand what's happened."

Emergency department associate clinical nurse manager Tracey Williams said she was in a meeting when news filtered through of a major incident.

The department's major incident response plan was activated when five or more patients come from one event. This time, they had 48 in one hour.

"It still feels surreal, I can't process it," she told Stuff.

Dr Dominic Fleischer led the emergency department's response on Friday. He is the leader for the hospital's trauma service.

Two patients came through with glass injuries, as they had broken through a window. They ran to the hospital and told staff they would have "many more" in the next few minutes.

Usually the hospital saw one or two gunshot injuries a month, so these kinds of wounds "were not uncommon", Dr Fleischer said.

But the hospital only saw one or two critically injured gunshot patients a year.

"To get 48 in one day, is exceptional," Dr Fleischer said. "I think it'd be exceptional for any hospital in the world."

Only one person who arrived at the hospital died, and Dr Fleischer said they had "unsurvivable injuries" when they arrived.

Canterbury district health board chief executive David Meates said one shooting victim was discharged from hospital on Thursday. Twenty-nine people remained in hospital, eight of them in a critical condition.

"A number of these patients will be with us for a long period of time. You do not set yourselves up to deal with this level of trauma," he said.

"One of the challenges we had is patients don't stop walking in the door. We still have the responsibility to continue to meet that care."

with Stuff

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