Bouncer Graham Roach blinded in stiletto shoe attack tries to rebuild his life

Published on Monday 3 August 2009 11:07

A HEAD bouncer who was blinded in one eye after being struck with a stiletto shoe today spoke of the battle to rebuild his life.

Graham Roach awoke from a four-hour operation to be given the heartbreaking news by doctors that he had permanently lost the sight in his left eye.

Surgeons at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary managed to re-attach part of his eyelid, but were unable to save his vision after he was injured outside Shanghai nightclub in George Street.

Now the 28-year-old faces a further operation today to rebuild the eye muscles in an effort to allow it to move normally.

But despite receiving the "terrible" blow that his sight was gone, Mr Roach said he was trying to remain upbeat.

Bosses at the nightclub have already told him they want him to return to work whenever he is ready, and he has refused to be put off from working for security at the venue.

Mr Roach, who lives in Chesser, was left badly hurt following an incident outside the club at around 2.30am last Saturday morning.

He said: "As soon as it happened, I screamed in pain and started walking back towards the club door.

"Then I had to sit down on the pavement because I was in so much pain. It was excruciating, the worst I have ever felt.

"A colleague sat down next to me and started compressing something against the eye to try and stop the bleeding.

"He was trying to keep me awake, because I was nearly falling unconscious.

"My right eye had also shut itself. I'm told with the trauma to the left eye, the right was shutting down to protect itself, so I couldn't see anything at times. The vision only came back in flashes."

Mr Roach was rushed by ambulance to the A&E department at the hospital. Doctors immediately called in eye specialists, as they realised the extent of the damage, and put him on morphine for the pain.

Mr Roach said: "I had a four-hour operation at 12pm on the Saturday. The surgeons had to re-attach part of my eyelid and operate on the left eye to ease the pressure on the right.

"When I woke up, they told me that I had lost the sight in my left. It was terrible to hear, but I really expected it from almost the moment it happened, so I wasn't shocked. I could tell it was bad straight away.

"The surgeons will try to re-attach the eye muscles and rebuild it to look as normal as possible, but it'll never see again. The eye is dead."

Mr Roach was kept in hospital until Wednesday, with doctors constantly cleaning the eye to ensure it did not become infected.

A slater by trade, Mr Roach worked at several venues before joining staff at the 12 million Le Monde complex, which includes Shanghai, when it opened in 2006. As head bouncer, he directs a six-strong security team at the venues. He said his horrific injury had not put him off working at the door.

Mr Roach added: "My work has told me they want me back as soon as I'm ready.

"I've had great support from my friends, family and colleagues at work.

"To be honest, I think I'm dealing with it so far. People seem to think I'm being upbeat. What's happened has happened. I'm just trying to get on with it."

A 37-year-old woman and a 48-year-old man have been charged and have appeared in court in connection with the incident.