A young woman who suffered a severe eye injury during an anti-government protest outside a Hong Kong police station has not gone blind, according to a hospital source.
Protesters have made an icon of the woman, who has been discharged from hospital, featuring her in posters and slogans as a testament to “police brutality”.
The woman was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment and underwent surgery.
Protesters say she was hit by a police beanbag round during a violent protest on August 11, but the force is not taking the blame pending an investigation
Her injury deepened protesters’ anger towards the police force and sparked more demonstrations, including one at Hong Kong International Airport on August 12, where many chanted “an eye for an eye”.
There had been fears the woman could lose her eye, which was ruptured, but the hospital source told the Post that at the moment she was not blind, although there were still uncertainties ahead.
She also sustained fractures on her nasal and maxilla, or upper fixed jaw, bones.
“Her right eye can sense light,” the source said. “The worst situation did not happen.”
But the source said it was not yet possible to tell how much vision remained as her condition had not yet stabilised.
“There can be some complications a few weeks to months after the injury,” the source said, citing retinal detachment and injury to the nerve of the eye as some of the possible problems.
The source also did not rule out the possibility that the woman’s eye condition could improve further, adding that she may need more surgery to help her recovery.
“The follow-ups will take a long time,” the source said.
The cause of the woman’s injury has been hotly disputed since she was found lying on Nathan Road with blood pouring from her eye on August 11 on a night of violence.