Vision Centre

Eye stabbing reminds surgeon of violence he saw in South Africa
Courier Mail , 16 October 2003
By Ryan Heffernan

A RESPECTED eye surgeon said he hadn't seen anything like it since working in violence-ridden South Africa towns. But far from Africa, it was an upmarket, crowded Gold Coast nightclub where a man used a "surgical-type" blade to cut directly and purposefully into Luke Courtney's right eye up to seven times -- supposedly over a spilt drink.

A last-minute decision not to remove the eye, followed by a marathon operation at the Gold Coast Hospital, has given Luke his only chance of regaining any form of sight in that eye. Speaking from his hospital bed yesterday, the 21-year-old student personal trainer described how a festive Saturday night out in Surfers Paradise turned into a life-altering experience by Sunday morning at 2am when he was attacked. "We had only just gone to the Berlin Bar; we don't normally go there," Luke said.  "I was on my way back from the bar and this guy pulled me up and reckons I spilt a drink on his girlfriend. "I didn't think I had and we got in a bit of an argument. The next thing I knew I'd been hit and he hit me a couple of times in the eye and that's when I reckon he must have stabbed me, then he kneed me in the eye as well."

Surgeons had to reconstruct the entire "globe" which was virtually non-existent and the eyelid had been devastated by deep lacerations. "In Africa, I saw some really horrendous violence and this comes close to the worst I've seen over there, quite sickening in the apparent maliciousness of the crime," Gold Coast ophthalmologist Dr Andre Theron said, claiming the attacker probably used a scalpel-like instrument or razor blade. "I'm quite sure he has continually attacked the eye." Luke's parents, Dan and Mandy, flew in from their home in Latrobe in Tasmania on Tuesday to be by his side. "We were devastated, of course," Mr Courtney said. "No way to describe it really, just angry. Whoever did this will be dealt with down the track." Video surveillance footage failed to identify the attacker but police may have leads. Luke, his associates and the Berlin Bar have offered a $10,000 reward for information that will help locate the assailant.