[nfbmi-talk] this is a tragic cause of blindness

[joe harcz Comcast]

Shaken baby syndrome and other abuse is one of the causes of blindness among young in America. Several years ago while I was in the Michigan commission for the Blind Training Center I came to know a young woman who was blinded while an infannt because her mother’s live in boyfriend got angry when she cried and threw her like a footbal against a wall detaching her retinas. She shared it with all because that same fellow who got sixteen years for the abuse was scheduled to be let out of prision at the time.

 

 

And the sad, tragic story of abuse and its consequences continues across America.

 

 

 

Joe

 

 

Couple charged in beatings that blinded 2-year-old. A southeast Houston man is accused of causing so many injuries to his 2-year-old stepdaughter that she

was blinded because of the physical abuse, Harris County prosecutors said. Angel Martinez , 26, is charged with injury to a child. The girl's mother, Nancy

Colomo-Gonzalez , also has been charged in the case, accused of doing nothing to protect her daughter. On Dec. 12, doctors examined Yenitze Beatrice Reyes

when her mother drove her to Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena. Her injuries, including skull fracture and trauma to her brain, were so severe she was

flown by helicopter to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Extensive injuries UTMB's medical director said the child's extensive injuries

were clearly the result of "non-accidental inflicted blunt force trauma," according to the criminal complaint filed against Martinez. The head injuries

were likely the result of blunt force trauma to the back of her skull or slamming the skull onto a hard surface, hospital officials determined. The little

girl was blinded by the attack, authorities said. When questioned by Houston police detectives, Martinez said he tossed the child into the air but was

unable to catch her at their apartment in the 10000 block of the Gulf Freeway, according to the complaint. He panicked when Yenitze struck a wooden chair

as she fell. The injury caused a lump on the back of her head. Martinez thought he could "push the bump" back into her head, according to the complaint.

Doctors told police his decision to press on the child's fractured skull explains the bone fragments found in her brain. Doctors found evidence of healed

injuries, indicating the child had been abused in the past. Both held without bail Martinez admitted repeatedly shaking her in September while her mother

was at work, causing seizures and vomiting. In October, he grabbed Yenitze by the arm and swung her during an argument with his wife. Although the child's

arm was swollen and red, she was not taken to the hospital, according to the complaint. Martinez is being held without bail at the Harris County Jail .

His stepdaughter's medical condition wasn't known late Wednesday. Colomo-Gonzalez, the girl's mother, is also in jail without bail, charged with injury

to a child by omission. According to court documents, she lied to hospital officials about her daughter's incidents, telling law enforcement authorities

she was afraid of getting Martinez into trouble. She also said she didn't seek medical attention in one incident because she didn't want to "get in trouble.