"Terrifying Magpie Attack Leaves My Daughter Blinded on the School Run – The Aftermath Was Devastating"

WHEN Nicole Moodie went to pick her daughter Sam up from school, she had no idea of the horror that was about to unfold.

She went to her younger son’s school first, which was nearby, and told her daughter, 12, to walk across and meet her there.

Sam Moodie had just finished school when the magpie attacked her Credit: Supplied The magpie’s beak pierced her eye and she was rushed to hospital Credit: Supplied

But as Sam was walking towards the school, a magpie suddenly flew out of a nearby tree and its beak pierced her eye.

Sam was rushed straight to hospital where doctors delivered the devastating news that she may never regain her sight.

Nicole, 49, from , said: “Sam has been so brave throughout it all, and now she may never see again.

“Its unimaginable that something like this could have happened on the school pick up.

“It’s shocking to think that a magpie could inflict such damage on a young girl like this.

“And in literally the blink of an eye, it can devastate someone’s life like this.

“I hope that in the future, known like this are removed and relocated to a place when such an accident won’t happen again.”

The accident happened after school had finished in November last year.

Nicole recalled: ‘My phone rang, and I could barely make out what my daughter Sam was saying.

“I’d arranged to pick Sam and her brother Archy, nine, up from school and I was running 20 minutes late.

“Make sure you go to your brother’s school after you finish, and I’ll pick you up from there,” I had told her that morning as I made their sandwiches for their lunch.

“She and Archy went to neighbouring schools, which meant that after a day at work, it was often easier for me to collect them together.

“I called Sam to tell her to walk over to the primary school, where Archy was playing basketball.

“A couple of minutes later, she called me back, and she was crying so hard, I could hardly make out what she was saying.

The magpie was known in the area for being angry and harassing people Credit: Getty Nicole says daughter Sam will probably never regain vision in her left eye Credit: Supplied

“A magpie flew at my face and my eye hurts so much, I can’t see,’ she sobbed.

“I told her I was on my way. I thought she was just a bit shaken and it was just a scratch.”

But nothing could have prepared Nicole for what she saw a few minutes later when she got to the school.

Sam was in the sports shed with Archy’s basketball coach.

“Sam slowly lifted her fingers that she had over her left eye, and we all gasped in horror,’ said Nicole.

“Mangled pieces from the inside of her eye were hanging next to her eyelid, which was oozing fluid and blood.

“It was sickening, I could hardly speak I was in that much shock.

“The coach said he would drive Archy home, whilst I drove Sam straight to the local accident and emergency unit.

“On the way there, she told me that she had been close to the school and had been looking down at her phone, when she suddenly heard an angry squawk.

“She heard flapping wings, and before she could put her hands up to protect her face, an had plunged its sharp beak right into her eye.

“Everything went blurry and she fell to the ground.

“Sam had then called me, before stumbling over to the sports shed. Afterwards we found out the magpie was known in the area for being an angry bird, who harassed people who walked past its nest.

Sam had emergency surgery to remove the lens in her left eye Credit: Supplied Sam is frightened to go outside after her attack Credit: Supplied

“Sam was unknowingly walking towards the nest, which is what must have triggered the attack.

“When we arrived at the hospital, she was looked at by a doctor.

“She needs emergency surgery,” he told me.

“It looks like the beak has pierced her cornea and then through her iris, popping it like a balloon.

“It has significantly damaged her lens,” he added.”

“Sam was panicking when he was telling us, and I had to do my best to try and keep her calm.

“They gave her pain medication, which helped a bit, and then we headed over to a larger hospital where she had surgery later that evening.

“Surgeons stitched her detached cornea, iris and lens back together.

“It took six hours, and I had to wait anxiously, waiting for news of how it had gone.

“When she came back up she was drowsy. Her eye was covered with a patch.

“I’m right here, its going to be ok,” I told her soothingly.

“But I didn’t know what the future was going to hold her.

“She had to have eye drops every few hours, but she said it was excruciatingly painful.

“The next morning, her older sister Laila, then 20, and brother Alex, 18, came to see her, and they were heartbroken to see her like this.”

Two days later, the surgeon noticed that her lens in her eye was beginning to swell.

She had to go immediately to Perth Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery to remove the lens.

Nicole said: “Afterwards she couldn’t stop crying that she couldn’t see.

“She stayed in hospital for the next four days, and then doctors had devastating news that she may never regain the vision in her left eye.

“I couldn’t believe it.

“It was heartbreaking news.

“Sam had been so brave throughout it all – and now she may never see again.

“She’s at home now, and tries to live as normally as possible, but she has to rely totally on her right eye to see.

“She’s still in a lot of pain with it, and she’s too frightened to go outside now after what had happened.

“Before the attack, she was learning aerial acrobatics, using silks, and she absolutely loved it, whirling around in the air, upside down.

“But she’s not allowed to do that now, as the pressure in her head whilst upside down would be too much for her eye.

“She loved to cook and read too, and although she can do a bit of cooking, she can’t read at all.

“She still has a cover on her eye.

“The stitches were taken out in March, but she probably will never get the sight back.

“It will take her a long time to get her confidence back too.

“We think the magpie went for her eyes because they are attracted to shiny objects.

“And it was closely guarding its nest.

“She’s had to have counselling because of it, and she’s frightened to go out, in case it happens again.

“She will always cover her eye with her hand if she goes out the door.

“I am home schooling her this year, to help her with her anxiety, and I’m so proud of her.

“She’s trying so hard, and she will get there in the end, and her siblings and I will be supporting her all the way through it.

“She loves listening to music, so she does that a lot.

“She has monthly check ups by the doctors, to check there is no infection in her eye, so they are keeping a careful watch on it.

“And at the end of the year, they will assess it all again.

“And if her sight still hasn’t come back – which they don’t think it will as her eye has lost contact with her brain now because of it, then we will help her adapt to her life with just her right eye.”

To help Sam’s recovery visit her GoFundMe page