There is light at the end of the tunnel for a little boy who had to undergo eye surgery after an incident that left his eye seriously damaged.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for a little boy who had to undergo eye surgery after an incident that left his eye seriously damaged.
The boy's foster mother was removed from the Grahamstown safe house where he and other children were living, after he arrived at school with his eye bruised and swollen.
Their former caregiver is due to appear on a charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The boy, 8, had to undergo eye surgery in a Port Elizabeth hospital after the incident. He also had other injuries on his face and body.
He has been released from hospital, but doctors have warned that his left eye has been damaged. Immediately after the incident there were concerns that his left eye might be permanently blind.
However, shortly after the young boy underwent surgery his grandmother told Grocott's Mail there was a chance he might recover his sight.
The doctor had told her the lens of the boy's left eye was damaged, but youth was in his favour and he might recover and be able to see again.
This week the boy's grandmother seemed hopeful that her grandson would be able to recover fully from the ordeal. "He can see with the eye, but not clearly."
"The doctor said it will take time, but he should regain his sight," she said.
The grandmother said the boy was staying with out-of-town relatives and is due to return shortly before his former foster mother appears in court, charged with assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Child welfare services immediately removed the woman from the safe home after the boy arrived at school injured.
At first the boy had said his injuries were caused by an accident, sources told Grocott's Mail, but he later told teachers at his school that his foster mother had beaten him and another child for wetting their beds.
His grandmother said investigators had interviewed the boy in preparation for the case.
