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Elizabeth Cheung

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.”
Hong Kong airport protest limitations extended indefinitely
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.
Two exits at Kwai Fong MTR station closed after late-night protest damage
Demonstrators had besieged the police station for hours and the popular shopping area around the compound became like a war zone as officers fired tear gas and beanbag rounds.
Protesters accused police of causing the woman’s injury, after photos and videos circulating online showed a bloodstained pair of protective goggles which appeared to have been damaged by a beanbag round.

But pro-government supporters had suggested the injury was caused by protesters, as a video recorded on the night showed a person launching a projectile with a catapult in the same area at around the same time.
At a police press conference on Monday, Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the organised crime and triad bureau said the force still did not know how the woman’s injury occurred. He urged witnesses to contact police to help clarify what happened.

The source refused to say whether any item that could have caused the injury was found on the woman, and declined to say whether the hospital had managed to identify the cause.
The source said, however, that in most cases, doctors generally were not able to identify items causing an injury based on the condition of bone fractures.
Gentle approach makes Hong Kong police officer a force for good online
There have been 2½ months of protests sparked by a now-abandoned extradition bill, which would have allowed Hong Kong to send suspects to jurisdictions with which the city have no such agreement, including mainland China. Protesters have set a list of five demands for the government including the official withdrawal of the bill and an inquiry into police use of force.


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Hong Kong protests

Woman who suffered severe eye injury during Hong Kong protest has not gone blind, hospital source says

The woman sustained a severe injury to her right eye in Tsim Sha Tsui on August 11. Photo: Reuters

A protester at Hong Kong airport wears an eye patch in reference to the woman who suffered a serious eye injury after reportedly being hit by a beanbag round fired by police during protests yesterday in Tsim Sha Tsui. 12AUG19 SCMP / Sam Tsang

Anti-extradition bill protesters in Tsim Sha Tsui - the protesters pressed on with protests despite the police ban on several protest marches that were scheduled for this weekend, in Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sham Shui Po and east Hong Kong Island. 10AUG19 SCMP / Felix Wong

Googles used by the blinded girl during the anti-government protests

Protesters call for mass Hong Kong airport demonstration after woman shot in eye during extradition bill unrest in Tsim Sha Tsui

Protesters plan to descend on Hong Kong airport again for a demonstration on Monday, stirred by a woman being shot in the eye on Sunday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Googles used by the blinded girl during the anti-government protests. Picture by QR

Anti-government protestors clash with riot police near Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station at Park Lane Shopper's Boulevard, Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, while tear gas was deployed. Anti-extradition bill demonstrations continued despite police's ban on several of this weekend's protests. 11AUG19 SCMP / Felix Wong

A protester at Hong Kong airport wears an eye mask in reference to the woman who suffered a serious eye injury after reportedly being hit by a beanbag round fired by police during protests  in TST. Photo: Sum Lok-kei

Hong Kong authorities still searching for answers over young woman’s brutal eye injury at protest outside Tsim Sha Tsui police station

Doctors look after a woman who received a facial injury in Tsim Sha Tsui on August 11. Photo: AFP

Tear gas in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong on August 11, 2019, in the latest opposition to a planned extradition law that was quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reforms. - Thousands of pro-democracy protesters hit the streets of Hong Kong for a tenth weekend in-a-row on August 11, again defying police who fired volleys of tear gas at several locations. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

epa07768039 An injured anti-government protester is being treated by medics outside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station in Hong Kong, China, 11 August 2019. Hong Kong has been gripped for weeks by mass protests, which began in June 2019 over a now-suspended extradition bill to China and have developed into an anti-government movement. EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE

Anti-extradition bill protesters were gathered at the airport on Monday. Many were chanting, "police shot the girl, an eye for an eye" and holding up signs that said "give back the eye" after police shoot a bean bag round which hit the eye of a young lady and cause serious injury in Sunday's protest. 12AUG19 Source: Joanne Ma

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There were fears woman could have lost her eye but ‘worst situation’ has not happened, source says
Woman, who was injured during protest outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, has been discharged from hospital



There were fears the woman could have lost her eye but the ‘worst situation’ has not happened, a hospital source says.


Hong Kong police

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Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Exclusive | Woman who suffered severe eye injury during Hong Kong protest has not gone blind, hospital source says

There were fears woman could have lost her eye but ‘worst situation’ has not happened, source says Woman, who was injured during protest outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, has been discharged from hospital

There were fears woman could have lost her eye but ‘worst situation’ has not happened, source says

Woman, who was injured during protest outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, has been discharged from hospital