I am back to square one with surgery on my eye..
Teen’s surgery infection hell in bid to adapt to prosthetic
TEENAGER Alanna Quinn Idris has said she is “back to square one” following almost two years of reconstructive surgeries on her eye.
The 19-year-old was left with lifechanging injuries following an alleged assault on December 30, 2021, including a ruptured eyeball, broken cheekbone and a shattered tooth.
Brave Alanna, who has had four big procedures since the incident, said she will have to go under the knife yet again next month as doctors are not happy with her progress and have to go back and start again.
Speaking to the Irish Sunday Mirror, the Dublin teen, who lost her right eye, said: “When it comes to my prosthetic eye I was told by the doctor last Saturday that he is going to have to start from scratch because the surgery on my eye socket is still not right. I’m back to square one with it all again.
“After the last surgery I got an infection and ended up spending a week in hospital as my face swelled up like it had after I first got injured.
“I have had six prosthetic eyes now at this stage but will have to start from scratch so there will be even more to come.
“My next surgery is on November 21 so we will see how that goes but hopefully this time it works out.”
She added: “I’m having the same operation as I had last time except this time they are actually going to use the fat from my belly.
“The last time they used silicone but this time they want to try it with my own body fat this time because the area where it was last placed has since shrunk. The area has become flat again.”
But when it comes to getting back to normality, Alanna said she is in college and happy despite some online trolling she has received.
She said: “Things have got back to normal, I do feel like people recognise me because I have been on TV and stuff. I have met some really lovely people who have come up to me and said hello and had a chat with me.
“But I have also had strangers
Sometimes it hits me like a brick that I only have one eye now
up to me and saying strange stuff as well. I have had a few weird, inappropriate encounters. I have a Tiktok account too and have only really started posting on it again. To be honest I’m mostly getting nice positive messages on it but there are a few negative ones too. “I get the odd person who’s like ‘Ah, I’m sick of seeing you.’” She went on: “Apart from that life is good at the moment. With the court cases and surgery it can be stressful but I try not to think too much about them.
“There are times when I catch my reflection in the mirror and see photos of myself from before [the alleged assault] and it does hit me like a brick that I only have one eye now.”
Despite all the obstacles, Alanna said she still has a great future to look forward to. She concluded: “I have started college and I’m doing an organic horticulture course which will hopefully lead into agriculture and I want to do some animal conservation at some point as well.”
In March, 19-year-old Darragh Lyons of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapecoming lizod, Dublin 20, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years for the violent assault on Alanna.
He had pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm and violent disorder on Ballyfermot Road on December 30, 2021.
Presiding Judge Martin Nolan condemned what he described as the “savage attack” on her by the group of young men.
He set a headline sentence of eight to nine years but reduced this on account of
mitigating factors including Lyons’ early plea, his cooperation, his lack of previous convictions and his young age. The judge said if Lyons had been older, the prison term would have been substantially longer. Two other men are still before the courts in relation to the incident and cannot be named. Lyons punched Ms Quinn Idris on the side of her face and was also involved in punching and kicking another person.