Teenager's eye split in two by thugs

A TEENAGER builder who lost the sight in one eye after an attack near his home told yesterday how his sight had been "taken away".

Eddie Watt, aged 19, was left drenched in his own blood after the attack by two men, in which he was beaten with a baseball bat and slashed with a metal chain.

He now faces an anxious wait to discover whether surgeons will have to remove his eye, which was split in two during the attack.

The teenager, whose eye is still swollen shut, said he remembers little of the attack near his home in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, which began after he tried to chase away a dog that had been barking at him and two friends.

He said he was initially attacked by a man with a chain in the first incident, shortly after leaving the Merlin bar in Edinburgh's Morningside area.

He was then set upon a second time as he tried to get home.

Eddie, who works for Balfour Beatty on the National Museum of Scotland refurbishment, had an emergency operation early on Saturday morning and was told it was unlikely he would ever see with his left eye again.

He said: "I was in a lot of pain when I woke up, and I was confused, I didn't know what was going on.

"The eye specialist said it was the worst he's seen.

"I don't know what I'd do if I saw them now. They've just taken my eyesight away from me. If I lose my eye I'll have to wait a couple of months and then I'll have to see if I can go back to work at all.

"It's my sister's birthday on Friday, she'll be four. I'm hoping I'll make it to her party. I've told her I won't miss it, despite everything that's happened."

Eddie's mother Shirley, 41, said: "They'd almost halved his eyeball in two – that's the best way to describe it.

"The fact that it was two grown men gets me more than anything – fully grown men with weapons did this to my son. They even went away to get weapons and came back again.

"I want the police to catch them and for them to get what they deserve," she said.

Lothian and Borders Police said the attack happened near Oxgangs Bank at about 11:30pm on Friday night. A police spokesman said: "This is an appalling act of violence that has left the victim with a serious and permanent injury."

He added: "We are keen to speak to anyone who can assist with our inquiries."