Lauren Scruggs, the model and fashionista who was injured December 4th when she accidently walked into a still spinning airplane propeller, has now lost her left eye. Writing on her daughter’s blog, her mom announced that the model’s left eye, which had been extensively damaged by the propeller was removed by surgeons as it was not only too damaged to save, but also posed an additional health risk as parts of it had begun to decay. Also removed were the nerves behind the eye, which according to her mother’s account on the blog, means a new source of pain for their daughter who is still hurting a lot in her arm and shoulder and of course her wrist where her hand was torn off by the blade in the accident.
Earlier posts to the blog by Scruggs’ mother indicate that shortly after the accident, doctors had been somewhat optimistic about being able to save her eye after extensive reconstruction of the socket. Unfortunately, it didn’t heal the way everyone had hoped and doctors were forced to remove it to prevent infection.
Lauren’s’ mother also said that her daughter now has a prosthetic in place which will of course take some getting used to. This latest bad news comes after a string of good news as Lauren’s mother details, had just begun to be able to eat her favorite foods, and had even managed to walk around in the halls outside of her hospital room for a little while. She is also able to talk, which is of course a relief to her and her family as it wasn’t clear until just a few days ago whether she’d suffered brain trauma in the accident.
The family has also added a post on the blog noting that they have set up a Lauren Scruggs Hope fund, to which those that wish can donate money to help pay for the costs associated with their daughter’s medical care.
Lauren’s mom also writes on the blog that her daughter has by all accounts been far more upbeat than most would expect of someone experiencing what she has been through, remarking for example how her daughter upon seeing here wounds for the first time, reported that they weren’t all that bad. One true blessing her mother reports is that her face muscles all still work the way they were prior to the accident, which means her smile is just as beautiful as ever.
One question still remains, and that is why the pilot of the small craft, Kurt Richmond, left the engine running after landing, even as passengers were disembarking. Thus far, again according to Lauren’s mother, in a later entry, he has refused to speak to reporters, though immediately after the accident it she notes that she had read in the papers that he had left the engine on (and thus the propeller spinning) because he was trading seats with someone in the co-pilot chair and were due to take off again as soon as the passengers were on their way.