Devastated mum shares horror as son, 17, loses eye in 'brutal' Blackpool house party glass bottle attack
“I’ve never seen anything like the blood. It was like a fountain, just pouring and pouring. He’s currently in hospital and has had two operations, one to remove the full eye itself. They found a large shard of glass behind his eyeball.”
A mum has spoken of her horror after her teenage son had to have his eye surgically removed after being brutally stabbed with a smashed bottle at a house party.
JJ Shingleton, 17, from Blackpool, has been left with life changing injuries following the incident, which happened at around 1.30am on Sunday morning at a property in Bond Street, South Shore. Tragically, JJ is currently in remission from cancer following a two year battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Devastated mum Saphra Sumner says her son’s life will forever be altered following the attack.
She said: “He rang me in the ambulance on the way to hospital. When I spoke to the police and they told me it was life-threatening, I nearly fell over. We got in a taxi and rushed there.
“I’ve never seen anything like the blood. It was like a fountain, just pouring and pouring. He’s currently in hospital and has had two operations, one to remove the full eye itself. They found a large shard of glass behind his eyeball.
“The attack was brutal. I can’t even imagine how you would think to pull somebody’s head back like that and repeatedly smash a bottle into their eye. It’s not as if he hasn’t got any marks on his face.”
Detectives have now launched an investigation into the incident and are appealing for anyone who witnessed the attack to contact them.
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JJ will now remain in hospital for a number of days and is waiting on a new prosthetic eye, which Saphra thinks will take a few months. According to Saphara, JJ’s mental health is ‘down’ as he comes to terms with his awful injury.
“He’d just started college, doing bricklaying,” Saphra added. “Now his whole life has been turned upside down. Every four months, for the rest of his life, he’s got to come here. JJ is one of the boys, he’s an outgoing lad- everybody knows him. I’m absolutely devastated, it’s heart-breaking.
“The support from everyone has been amazing, it’s absolutely blown up. People have tried to come together, as a community, to help. There’s a GoFundMe, they want to raise a bit of money for when JJ comes out of hospital, to try and put a smile on his face.”
Friends of the teen are now rallying around the family and are trying to raise £1,000 to support his recovery.
So far they have raised more than £450.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “We were called at 1.56am on Sunday, September 27 to Bond Street, Blackpool, to a report of assault.
“It was reported that a 17-year-old boy had been assaulted with a glass bottle at a house party and suffered facial injuries.
“A 19-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of assault - grievous bodily harm. He’s since been released on bail with conditions, pending further enquiries.
“Anyone with witnessed what happened or has information, please contact 101 – quoting log 0139 of 27th September.”
You can support the GoFundMe here.