Natasha McShane remains in a critical condition in a Chicago hospital Monday after being brutally beaten by a baseball bat early last Friday morning in the Bucktown area of the city, and her family is in shock as the 23-year-old has never been involved in anything like this in her life.

“Her parents are devastated,” grandmother Bernadette McShane told the Belfast Telegraph.

The Irish student is the eldest of a family of five and her parents are with her as she fights for her life.

“They are at her bedside. She is getting first class treatment at the hospital. We are just waiting on news. We hope to get her back the way she was.”

McShane remains critical, and though Doctors at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center carried out a procedure to relieve some of the pressure on her brain, the exact nature of the her injuries are not yet known.

McShane was on her way home with friend Stacey Jurich, who is in a stable condition, when the attack occurred.  Jurich was able to give a description of the attacker but no arrests have been made.

Chicago police departments, Sgt Walter Chudzik said the two women were attacked from behind.

“The area where it happened has a lot of bars and restaurants and people hanging around at that time of night. There are predators there that prey on people on a night out. There are robberies every few weeks,” said Chudzik.

Due to the savage nature of the attack, Chudzik said that the police department made the decision to assign many officers to the case.