Doncaster mum lost eye in horror attack

Doncaster mum of two Lisa Grisdale was just taking a five minute walk from her home to the shops.
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But before she arrived at her destination, she was attacked by two women who she believes had just left the pub.

Lisa, now aged 36, was living in Leeds at the time.

She said: “I was headed to my local local shop in Bramley, in Leeds, off Ganners Way, and two women came out of a pub. They followed me for a while, and then said ‘what are you looking at?’

Lisa Grisdale, who lost an eye in an attack in 2016, pictured before the assault.Lisa Grisdale, who lost an eye in an attack in 2016, pictured before the assault.
Lisa Grisdale, who lost an eye in an attack in 2016, pictured before the assault.
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“That was it. I had flashes of being punched and kicked, and something was put into my eye. I don’t know if it was a bottle or a stiletto shoe. But I remember scrambling like a scared fox to get cover behind a wall to try to get to safety and my breath.

“I found a friend who was walking past, and she helped me get home. She was horrified and trying to stop me from collapsing. She called an ambulance.”

Lisa, who left Leeds shortly after the assault to return to her home town of Doncaster, was taken to Leeds Royal Infirmary. Her wounds were sewn up, but doctors were unable to save the sight in her right eye.

She says her eyeball was split in two by the attack.

As time went on the damaged eye began to deflate. After she moved back to Doncaster, she underwent surgery at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, and had what doctors call an orbital implant inserted in place of her eye – designed to take up the space previously occupied by her eyeball.

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Just six weeks after the attack her dad died. He had been ill for some time.

The combination of the attack and her family grief hit her hard. She refused to leave the house and was affected by depression. She tried to get support with her mental health, but was faced with a long waiting list.

She also faced issues including ongoing pain, and issues affecting her appearance that she believes affected her mental health.

Now she is hoping to raise £16,000 through crowdfunding to pay for cosmetic surgery to help address the problem.

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She said her prosthetic eye has changed shape three times and that she has developed nerve damage which has left her with a crooked neck. She also has issues with her lower eye lid dropping that she says will need an operation.

Lisa, from Auckley, said: “I came back to Doncaster because I was an emotional wreck, and my family was a big help. Doncaster NHS were lovely to me to. But the mental health treatment was not available when I needed it. I was put on a sixth month waiting list for help with issues that had gone by the time six months had passed.

“It has been a slow, long process, with having post traumatic stress disorder. But I have stopped drinking alcohol, and that has helped. But my appearance has had a major impact on my confidence. I was a confident person before what happened.

“If I can get plastic surgery that I can’t get on the NHS, that would be a game changer.

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“It has been four years that I have been hiding away. You can’t live like that, and I can’t keep blaming the world for what happened. You have to come to terms with it.”

Former Hall Cross School pupil Lisa, who is separated from her husband, moved to Doncaster aged 13. Prior to that, she had moved around air bases as a child of an RAF family. Her dad was a Doncaster man, and her grandparents used to run Instoneville Post Office in Askern.

She has two sons, aged eight and 16, and says her mum has been a rock for her over the last few years. She worked at Croda Chemicals on Wheatley Hall Road until she had her second child.

West Yorkshire Police said they carried out comprehensive investigations into the incident in which Lisa was attacked in 2016, but no suspects were ever found.