ASSAULT VICTIM ‘SAVED 4 LIVES’
Tragic Josip’s organs donated
A MAN who died after being attacked as he walked home saved at least four lives after his death, it has emerged.
The family of Josip Strok, 31, who passed away last Wednesday following the assault in south Dublin, said he donated his organs to save others.
Mr Strok, from Krapina in northern Croatia, had been attacked the previous Saturday as he and pal David Druzinec, 28, walked to a house in Clondalkin after getting off a bus.
Mr Strok suffered catastrophic head injuries but his family said most organs in his body were unaffected and were donated after the decision was made to turn off his life support machine at Tallaght
Hospital.
Mr Druzinec later spoke out about the assault in the Grange View Way area shortly after 10pm on
March 30.
The friends met up to spend Easter together, had some food and bought a couple of beers in an offlicence before heading back to David’s apartment in Clondalkin. Mr Druzinec said when they left the off-licence they were both talking in Croatian.
He told the Telegram newspaper in Croatia that a gang started “throwing insults and shouted at us ‘You speak English, you are in Ireland, you are not at home, you have no respect for our country, this is Ireland’ and things like that”.
Mr Druzinec said the attack was unexpected as they neither saw nor heard it coming.
He added: “They hit me first with something, I don’t know if it was a bar or a bat. I asked the police the details they saw on the video, which they allegedly have.
“Basically, I fell when they started on Josip. After some time, I managed to get up and wanted to help him but they started beating me again, even harder.”
He said that was all he could remember.
Gardai are probing the attack and have appealed for witnesses to come
forward.