Dublin girl, 7, loses eye in freak accident as 'vape battery acid shoots from open fire'

As little Ruby Grainger walked by an open fire on the grass in Fortunestown, Tallaght., something flew into her right eye and it began gushing blood and she was rushed to hospital

A young girl in Dublin lost her eye after medics believe battery acid from a vape shot into her face as she walked beside an open flame.

Fires lit by thugs are causing havoc in Fortunestown, Tallaght. Little Ruby Grainger, 7, had her life changed last Saturday when she walked across the green on her housing estate.

As she walked by an open fire on the grass, something flew into her right eye and it began gushing blood. Her mother, Ciara Grainger, 32, said fires are lit on the estate’s green every day of the week, and she is fearful that other children will get hurt.

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Speaking about the horrific day Ruby lost her eye, Ciara told the Irish Mirror: “She was walking across to the ice cream van and when she was coming back bang, something exploded in her face. All I hear is screaming, she was hysterical, when she got to the house I could’ve collapsed. The blood was rushing all down her face, I put her to my chest and rang the ambulance, I was frantic.”

Ruby was rushed to Tallaght Hospital by ambulance. Her mother said when doctors looked at her eye there was “nothing there”.

That night, the seven-year-old was transferred to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital for emergency surgery and the family later received the tragic news.

Ciara said: “After the operation, the doctor said 'It’s bad news, we had to take the eye away'. They said this is the first case of this kind of damage from a fire, they have seen explosions but to lose her whole eye, the socket, everything.

“I don’t think it has properly hit me that the child has no eye now. For a split second her whole life changed, and mine too, when she lost her eye I lost mine.

“If I could give her mine I would. I’d give everything for her, she’s only seven, and this never should have happened to her. I can’t believe it.”

The mother-of-four said doctors believe the damage was caused by battery acid because “the eyeball was like mashed potato”. Ruby didn’t feel anything hit her eye, and the type of damage done would not be caused by a physical object.

After the accident, Ciara’s niece checked where the fire was, and there were remnants of several burnt-out vapes. Young Ruby will now have to be fitted for a prosthetic eye.

They hope she can get the operation in six weeks if she has healed well. Her mother added: “The left eye is also black and blue, and they say there's a low chance of her also losing sight in the other eye, but we have to keep checking it.

“She will also have to go to a special school for kids with vision impairment. It’s going to be a tough road for us.”

The family have lived in the Fortunestown estate for six years and Ciara said since then they have had “nothing but hassle”. She wants to get an emergency transfer through the council to move house.

The Dubliner said: “The estate is a joke. It’s teenagers, 16, 15, 14, causing havoc, they might not even be from this estate but they hang around in this estate. It’s constant around here, I don’t want to live here anymore, my kids don’t want to go out to play anymore.”

The mother hopes to get justice for her young girl, but says finding who lit the fire is like “finding a needle in a haystack”. She is extremely fearful of Halloween, saying the green outside their house was like a war zone last October.

Ciara added: “They light fireworks all year round, and they are shooting them at kids, people's houses and cars. At this stage, I am sick to death of it.

“There are so many fires on the field here it’s the normal thing. When we were on our way home from the hospital there was a fire there again. This is all year around and all the time.

"I have anxiety with all the stuff going on, it’s not good for the kids, it’s not good out there. Next time it will be another child's face."

A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Ruby's medical costs.

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