No rush: Sucker-punch victim won’t let uncertainty get her down

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This article was published 20/07/2017 (2470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been 26 days of uncertainty for Brittney Thomas-Ljungberg and she’s facing an indefinite number more. The future of her vision is still in doubt after she was sucker-punched by a stranger near Rupert Avenue on the afternoon of June 25.

The punch caught her right eye, sending her to the hospital without sight. But despite the constant discomfort, having to leave her job and school and being restricted to bed-rest conditions, Thomas-Ljungberg is in good spirits.

“I’m not bothered by the uncertainty as much,” she said.

Thomas-Ljungberg has undergone two surgeries since the attack — one to save her eye, and the other to reattach her retina, of which only one-quarter remained intact.

She has progressed from seeing light to recognizing faint forms, but doctors don’t know how much better it’ll get.

“It’s like living in a fun house. Everything is curved up… everything changes shape as you move your head,” she said.

In her most recent surgery, they took out her eye’s lens, the part of the eye allowing people to focus and see clearly.

They’ll only give her a prosthetic one if they deem it probable she’ll regain sight.

Right now, her life consists of laying down in a massage table-like contraption keeping her head pointed down. It’s necessary for her to recover from the retina reattachment. She spends 45 minutes of every hour like that, sitting up to talk to her visitors and boyfriend when she’s allowed to.

She admits she’s had a few tough days.

“I made the mistake of Googling my injury, and it was such a downer,” she said.

Otherwise, Thomas-Ljungberg is maintaining the mindset she’s simply playing the cards that she’s been given.

“It’s just really boring,” she said.

To pass the time, she puts on podcasts or listens to the TV play Forensic Files, since her screen time is limited.

She’s slated to go back to the University of Winnipeg in September, but she may have to undergo more surgery instead.

She’d like to keep up her classes while recovering. She’s a biological psychology student who hopes to go into medicine.

The setback hasn’t changed these plans, just deferred the timeline.

“We’re not in any rush to do anything,” she said, referring to herself and her boyfriend, Mike Fox.

Police have not yet made an arrest in the case.

stefanie.lasuik@freepress.mb.ca