Michelle Massey, who was shot in Lanzarote last month by her Spanish boyfriend, intends to return to Limerick with her infant son when she recovers from her injuries but is suffering severe psychological turmoil over the attack.

The 25-year-old's parents have described the assistance offered by the Irish consulate as a "disgrace".

Massey remains in a serious condition in Doctor Negrin hospital in Gran Canaria as gunshot wounds to her back and stomach have become infected.

She lost a kidney following the shooting and her arm is also severely injured. Her parents, Ethel and Patrick, from Moyross in Limerick, have remained at her hospital bedside since the attack and say she is suffering psychologically since the incident.

"It will take her months to recover physically. But mentally, it will be very hard for her to get over it at all. She's suffering from terrible nightmares. All she can see in her dreams is him shooting her. She wakes up asking is the baby okay," Patrick Massey told the Sunday Tribune.

"She's not sleeping well and is taking tablets to help her sleep now. She's hooked up to machines at the moment to try and clear the infections from her wounds. After she was shot in the stomach, she had the foresight to hold onto her stomach; that's what held her intestines in."

Massey has not seen her seven-month-old son Ruben since the shooting. She was shot once in the arm and once in the stomach with a shotgun by her partner Eulogio (Lolo) Ramonbernal at their home in Lanzarote on 27 May.

He then turned the gun on himself but he survived his injuries. He was also being treated at Doctor Negrin hospital but has since been transferred and is under police supervision.

"She was terrified when she found out he was at the same hospital. What he did was totally out of the blue. She will have to give a statement to the police but she hasn't been well enough to yet," said Ethel.

"We just want her to get better. I think she'll come home to Limerick when she's better. She's all we have left," she said.

The couple's only other child, Kathleen, 26, died two years ago from organ failure.

Massey's parents have criticised the Irish consulate in Spain, saying: "They have only been in touch with us once. No, we don't know our rights in terms of taking a civil action or what happens next. It's a disgrace," Ethel said.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "We provided full consular assistance in this case. In this case, assistance has been provided through the consular section in Dublin, the embassy in Madrid and mostly by the honorary consul in Lanzarote."