A vigil is taking place later this week in Ballyfermot in Dublin to support a 17-year-old girl who was the victim of a vicious assault.
Alanna Quinn Idris suffered a ruptured eyeball, broken bones and broken teeth during the attack last Thursday.
The vigil will be held at Ballyfermot Civic Centre on Saturday at 11am, with organisers saying they want to send out a clear message that Ballyfermot demands safer streets for young people.
Yesterday it was reported that she was 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.
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)."
Worst-case scenario
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.
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.
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.
