Mohammad a day after the assault
Anyone’s life can change in the blink of an eye. This was literally the case for Mohammad, who lost vision in his left eye after being assaulted in Texas shortly following his 25th birthday.
In early December of 2011 Mohammad and two friends decided to go out for a couple of drinks in San Antonio for a late celebration of his birthday. On their way home, another car pulled up next to them at a red light intersection and two men started screaming abuse. “I brushed it off not thinking of it,” Mohammad says. “Next thing I know my friend Jeff* says these two guys were tailgating us.”
Car chase
Despite Jeff’s best efforts to lose the culprits, they were eventually cornered in an alley. Mohammad stepped in when one of the men pushed his friend Bill*.
“His friend popped out behind him and all I remember was a fast object coming straight at my face,” he says.
The object was a bottle, which shattered in Mohammad’s face and he retreated after seeing his nose split open. Glass also went into his eye, but he didn’t realise the extent of his injury until reaching the hospital. After injuring Jeff, the two attackers swiftly drove away.
Mohammad’s eye shortly after the incident.
Deaf parents
On the ambulance ride to the hospital, the paramedics told Mohammad that he would most likely just need stitches. However, when he received a high dose of morphine at the hospital, the panic started to set in.
“I was confused since I was all alone but I could see the concerned looks of the doctors.”
The only thing going through his mind was that he could lose his vision and would never be able to communicate with his parents, who are both deaf. “I was just in shock and started to cry,” he says. “I kept shouting ‘my deaf parents. I am never going to see them again’.”
His nose was patched up and some of the glass was removed from his eye, but due to the high amount of blood, pieces of glass remained in his eye and he would have to have a second surgery. He was discharged the very next day with both his eyes patched up.
Left eye patched up
Mother’s support
Mohammad stayed with his uncles, and when his mother arrived from California, they shared a powerful moment trying to calm each other down. “I immediately sprung up from the bed and started to sign to my mother that I am okay,” he says. “There was an amazing energy between us.”
Three days later he had his second surgery. His retina was reattached, but a tiny piece of glass could not be removed as he would have completely lost vision in his left eye. His sinus cavity had a crack, which led to major headaches in the following month.
While his father and sister flew back to California, Mohammad’s mother stayed at his apartment for a couple of months. During this time he describes himself as a wreck. He didn’t want to go out and face people and couldn’t look at himself in the mirror. He took out the anger on his mother. “I would often bark at my mom for no reason,” he says. “I really had no idea what was going on.”
“I kept replaying that night over and thinking of the future. Over and over again. It was a ridiculous roller coaster ride that kept looping around forever.”
His damaged eye didn’t get any better. He was only able to see smudged light and eventually lost sight in his left eye altogether.
Mohammad felt as though he lost the power to do anything, and his mother took care of all his chores. “I was a sunken ship with an abandoned captain,” he says.
After learning how to manage a restaurant and working hard for seven straight months, everything was all of a sudden taken away from him, at least in his mind. His mother helped him through the transition, and after trapping himself in his apartment for two months, Mohammad finally gained enough confidence to go back to work, despite his optometrist advising against it. He was sick of feeling bad for himself.
Mohammad today, with a fake lens.
Scleral shell
When his mother returned to California, he began to come out of the shell he had been confined within for months. “I started to go to the gym daily. Worked on my basketball shot, improved my mile time, pretty much releasing all the bad energy that was bottled up inside me,” Mohammad says.
Seven months after the incident, he was able to get a scleral shell. He was finally able to see his face back in its normal state. “It was truly incredible to see myself with two eyes. All I could do was smile.”
Overcoming the mental side of his misfortune was tough, but Mohammad eventually started appreciating the things he had rather than focusing on what he had lost.
Getting through the adversity and recovering from the physical and mental wounds took time. However, despite still occasionally struggling, over two years following the incident he is feeling much better than he ever has in his life.
“I was able to bounce back and eventually become a better person than I ever was.”
“I vowed to myself and my parents to stay positive, always smile, and lend a helping hand to others. I can’t thank the support I have gotten from others.”
Mohammad recovered.
*Jeff and Bill are fictional names
The Daily Male 