Victim of unprovoked attack in Dublin, Alanna Quinn Idris, to get new prosthetic eye
Alanna Quinn Idris made international headlines when she was hit in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter in an unprovoked attack while out walking with her friend in Ballyfermot, west Dublin, on December 30, 2021. File photo: Collins Court
A young woman who lost the vision in one of her eyes after an attack by four youths has revealed she is getting a new prosthetic eye on Friday.
Alanna Quinn Idris made international headlines when she was hit in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter in an unprovoked attack while out walking with her friend in Ballyfermot, west Dublin, on December 30, 2021. She was just 17 at the time and was left unconscious and suffered a broken cheekbone, a ruptured eyeball and a shattered tooth.
The then-teenager from Ballyfermot underwent several surgeries but lost permanent vision in her right eye because of the assault. The incident caused outrage across the country and a number of protests took place in support of her and her family.
In a post on TikTok this week, Ms Quinn Idris said she was “looking forward” to her surgery.
“I’m getting a new eye and actually for the first time ever, I am not dreading it," she said. "I’m actually looking forward to it. It is some different kind of feeling.”
In her short video, she describes her medical journey so far, which involved “a few surgeries to get from there to where we are now".
She went on to describe how she was not happy with a previous prosthetic eye designed for her, saying “the colour is ok” but that she didn’t like the shape. “That might make me sound ungrateful but I’m genuinely not trying to be,” she continued.
“I have a new doctor. He took the shape of my eye and its literally near identical to this (her other eye), the shape is a very important thing.
“He took a marker, looked at me, drew the pupil and said that’s what it might look like when we get it back.
“I looked at myself in the mirror with the marker-drawn eyeball and after three years now of this and I actually saw my face, I saw my 17-year-old cute little face."
She then can’t contain her excitement when she reveals a photo of the new eye, which has been sent away to be painted before it’s fitted. Ms Quinn Idris said: “There she is, obviously it looks like I have a pink eye just because it’s a clear shell, but it’s sent off to be painted, but does that not look so good?
“My bottom lid is kinda sticking out but that’s because I don’t have any muscle strength there. Oh my god look at me, I’m mad about this.
“I’m delighted. It’s been sent off to be painted, I’m not getting my eye colour, I decided to go with a different colour just because of how well I think this will look anyways. So, I’m excited for that, so yeah, delighted.”
Two men were jailed over the assault of Ms Quinn Idris.
Last March, Darragh Lyons 19, from Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, received four-and-a-half years in prison for assault causing serious harm, while 19-year-old Josh Cummins of Raheen Drive, Ballyfermot was jailed for three years in December.
Another accused, described in court as 'Suspect A' is before the courts. The fourth male, 'Suspect B', has not been identified.
In her victim impact statement outside the courts in December, Ms Quinn Idris said: “I’ve never been the most confident girl, but I had a little, until my attackers took that away.”
