Girl loses an eye after vape 'explodes in her face'
Ruby Grainger had just gone to get an ice cream when she was badly injured - and 'thugs' are being blamed
by Sophie Buchan, Ciara O'Loughlin · The MirrorA young girl has lost an eye after a vape 'exploded'. Ruby Grainger was badly injured when battery acid from a vape exploded into her face, medics believe.
It happened after she went to get an ice cream near her housing estate - and she will now need a prosthetic eye. Her mum said that the first thing she knew about it was when little Ruby, 7, started screaming.
The incident happened in Fortunestown, Tallaght in Dublin. It came after fires were lit by local troublemakers who are being blamed for the incident - one of many fires mum Ciara, 32, says are lit there every day.
Ciara, whose daughter faces a small risk she could lose her other eye, said: "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 immediately rushed to Tallaght Hospital by ambulance. Her mother shared that when doctors examined her eye, there was "nothing there", reports Dublin Live.
In a heart-wrenching turn of events, Ruby was rushed to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital for emergency surgery, only to be met with devastating news post-operation. Her mother Ciara recounted the harrowing moment, saying: "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 distraught mother explained that doctors suspect battery acid caused the injury as "the eyeball was like mashed potato." Ruby didn't feel any impact on her eye, indicating that the damage wasn't due to a physical object. Following the incident, remnants of burnt-out vapes were found near the fire site by Ciara's niece.
Now, young Ruby faces the prospect of needing a prosthetic eye, with hopes of undergoing the procedure in six weeks, provided she heals adequately. Ciara continued: "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."
Ciara, a resident of the Fortunestown estate for six years, has expressed her frustration with the area, saying she's had "nothing but hassle" and is desperate for an emergency council transfer. The Dublin mum 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 any more."
She is also seeking justice for her daughter but feels it's like "finding a needle in a haystack". With Halloween approaching, Ciara fears a repeat of chaos seen there last year, describing the green outside their home as a war zone. She 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."
Ciara, who suffers from anxiety due to her experiences, worries about the safety of the children. She said: "Next time it will be another child's face."
A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Ruby's medical costs.