Winnipeg women recovers sight in eye badly damaged in random attack

WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg woman who lost her site in one eye last June from a vicious random attack can now see almost perfectly after multiple surgeries.

Brittney Thomas-Ljungberg, 29, was all smiles Friday as she described the joy of being able to see out of her right eye that was split open by a sucker punch from a stranger as she was walking with her boyfriend.

“I can see,” she said. “Which is 100 times better than what was the original diagnosis of like, ‘Hey you’re going in for surgery you might not have your eye when you come back out.’”

She suffered a global rupture, a torn retina and damage to the eye lens.

Dr. Frank Stockl, a surgical retinal specialist, said when he first saw the university student, her vision was poor.

“There was so much blood in her eye I couldn’t even examine her properly,” he said.

In October, she received a lens implant and now her vision is stable with 20/25 vision.

Thomas-Ljungberg said her life has returned back to normal and you can barely notice the injury.

She said she was never really emotional about the prospect of losing her vision and stayed calm and positive for the most part.

“I am a fairly reasonable person, so I just took it as it came,” she said. “I don’t really have any tips and tricks. You just have to play the cards you’re dealt.”

The journey to regaining her vision meant not working and putting school on hold, but now she’s back at both.

“It feels like deja vu right now. I feel like I am redoing all my courses that I’ve kind of had to put on hold for speed bumps in life.”

A life that will include more frequent visits to the eye doctor.

Stockl said she will need a lifetime of follow-ups because there is still a risk the retina will detach and of glaucoma.

The Winnipeg Police Service say no arrests have been made in Thomas-Ljungberg’s case. (CTV Winnipeg)