One the most serious victims of tear gas during the chaos of Bersih 3.0 rally has come forward today to tell his tale of woe.
Asrul Wadi Ahmad, 29, from Kepala Batas, has been reviewed by four doctors and may be diagnosed as blind in the right eye if his condition does not improve in six months.
Asrul said he was hit by a tear gas canister directly on his face at about 3.15pm around Masjid Jamek, when he was participating in the Bersih protest on April 28.
“I lost vision in my right eye, and whenever I look, there is a black spot in my vision. The doctors I consulted told me that the impact on my eye had been due to an object which hit it at high speed,” Asrul told a press conference in Penang.
Asrul said the situation was calm when he was around Masjid Jamek, but suddenly turned chaotic when the tear gas was fired into the crowd.
When the canister hit him, Asrul fell to the ground and was assisted by members of the public who took him to a nearby hospital, where he was given nine stitches below his eyes.
When asked if he regretted his decision to participate in the rally, Asrul said, “No, this is the people’s struggle.”
He added that he would join another rally if a Bersih 4.0 was organised.
“As youths of the nation, we have a responsibility to ensure that our country remains democratic,” he stressed.
Asrul is in the process of initiating legal action against the police for his condition. He has also lost his job as a mechanical engineer in a manufacturing company in Penang, where he had been offered the job before the Bersih event.
“They told me the job needs someone with good eyesight, and with my condition, I can no longer be a suitable employee,” he lamented.
The Bersih event, following the firing of tear gas, had resulted in scores injured, including journalists covering the event, who claimed they were beaten by the police while on duty.
Doc: Asrul can only see hand movements
Meanwhile, a medical doctor Dr Khim Pa, who accompanied Asrul during the press conference, said the impact of the tear gas canister on the victim’s eye was “very serious”.
“There was damage to the interior chamber of his eyes, his iris was damaged, and there is a blood clot behind his retina,” said the doctor.
“According to the eye specialist, his eyes could not be operated on as there is already scarring on his retina and his nerves there are damaged,” he added.
“If he looks at you, Asrul can only see hand movements and not fingers, he can only see a bit around the edges,” he stressed.
Dr Pa said that Asrul’s blindness may be permanent and in six months if his condition does not improve, he will be certified as “legally blind”.
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