A 17-year-old girl has been told by doctors there is a 90 per cent chance she will lose sight in one of her eyes after she was attacked by four men in Ballyfermot, Dublin.
Alanna Quinn Idris suffered “life changing” injuries in the attack on December 30th, including a ruptured eyeball, broken teeth and broken bones in her cheek and eye socket.
A male friend she was with at the time was also assaulted and suffered knife injuries.
In a message posted on GoFundMe, Alanna’s mother Jamie said they are “holding on so tightly to that 10 per cent” chance that her daughter will see again from her right eye after emergency surgery was carried out.
“My girl is so strong. I know over time she will suffer more physically with multiple surgeries planned,” her mother said.
“I think the hardest to deal with is her eye. They ruptured her eyeball, the damage is extensive unfortunately with a 90 per cent chance of never regaining the sight in that eye (we are holding on so tightly to that 10 per cent)."
Ms Quinn said doctors are "still preparing us for the what ifs," with the worst-case scenario being the removal of her daughter's eye. "The best we hope for now is for her eye to look normal, and if miracles are real then with luck she will see with it again," she said.
Armed attack
Ms Quinn said her daughter “will be left with some scars visible and invisible but she is alive and I could not be anymore thankful for that.”
She also paid tribute to her daughter’s friend, “who stepped in to protect her and was stabbed and split open," describing him as "a little hero".
Gardaí investigating the incident suspect that the 17-year-old girl had been harassed over a prolonged period by members of the group that carried out the attack, according to The Irish Times.
The attack occurred near Ballyfermot Civic Centre at about 9.30pm and was carried out by a group of four men armed with a hurley stick, a saddle and seat post from an electric scooter, and a knife.
It is understood that Ms Quinn and the young man she was with exchanged words with one man on a bus journey to Ballyfermot and that while she was the target of the initial verbal abuse, her male friend defended her.
When they got off the bus that exchange continued and other men arrived onto the scene, at which point the attack became physical.
Investigation
A local man who was out walking came to the aid of the two victims, with it understood that the attackers then fled the scene.
Gardaí confirmed they were investigating an assault that occurred on Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10, at about 9.30pm last Thursday and appealed for witnesses. They added a “female juvenile in her late teens” had been hospitalised due to her injuries.
They appealed for anyone who witnessed the attack to come forward and for anyone with footage, including dashcam recordings, to supply it to investigating gardaí at Ballyfermot station.
No arrests have been made and Garda sources said CCTV images recorded on the bus, and in the general area of the attack, had been gathered up.
A GoFundMe page has been established in a bid to help Alanna and the injured man, with €24,121 raised as of Monday evening – far beyond its €5,000 goal - after more than 1,000 donations. The donations are to be split equally between Ms Quinn and her friend.
Today was admittedly harder. I’ve finally accepted that there is an over 90 per cent chance that I won’t be able to see out if my right eye again
In a message on the GoFundMe page, Alanna thanked those who had sent her messages of support in recent days.
“I’ve been absolutely showered with love and support by so many kind hearts, I’m trying my best to reply to everyone as fast as possible but I just want to say that words cannot express how grateful I am for every single one of you,” she said.
“I’m not the best at writing things but I just want to say that throughout this whole experience I’ve tried my best to maintain a positive attitude and just be appreciative of the fact that both me and Louis are still here alive and safe.
“Today was admittedly harder. I’ve finally accepted that there is an over 90 per cent chance that I won’t be able to see out if my right eye again, which sucks because my right side is my good side lol.
“Despite all this I am genuinely just so so grateful that Louis is recovering well and was there with me that night, don’t know what I would do without you now haha, aswell as everyone else that intervened and got us the help we needed."
