QUEENS (PIX11) — Queens resident Oscar Mora, 41, a husband and father of three, recalled the morning of Sept. 25 when a loving gesture on National Daughter’s Day ended with him on the receiving end of an unprovoked, violent attack.
“I got up and went to go get doughnuts for my daughter. But I didn’t arrive to Dunkin’ Donuts. I noticed there was a gentleman there. He had thrown something at me. It was a sharp object. And he basically ruptured my eye. There were no words or interaction,” said Mora.
Police released a photo of the unidentified suspect – a still frame taken from surveillance video obtained by PIX11 News, which shows the suspect walking down Hillside Avenue and then running back the way he came.
Two weeks after the attack, the suspect is still on the loose.
When asked what doctors had said of his prognosis, Mora said, “to learn how to live with one eye.”
Mora and his wife Stephanie said the situation was made worse by an eight- to nine-hour wait for emergency eye surgery at Jamacia Hospital.
“It was hours and hours. The blood just kept gushing out of my eye,” Mora told PIX11 News.
“I saw blood coming out of his eye — the whole time. It was horrible. It was a bad, bad experience at the hospital,” Stephanie Mora added.
Citing privacy regulations, Jamaica Hospital declined to comment.
Mora said he doesn’t know when he’ll be able to drive or walk without losing his balance – let alone return to work. He’s optimistic about an upcoming ophthalmologist appointment scheduled for later in October and hopes he’ll be able to regain at least some sight in his severely damaged eye.
Many of Mora’s medical expenses are being paid for out of pocket. The family has a GoFundMe page set up to help with those costs.
