Five-year-old girl blinded on first day at school

Tragic Keira Hinder was playing with her new friends in the playground when the branch sprang back into her face - leaving her permanently blinded in one eye.

The freak accident happened just hours after the youngster arrived for her first day at St Andrew's C of E Primary School, in Swindon, Wilts. Keira has so far undergone three operations and is forced to use eye drops every two hours to relieve the pain.

Surgeons battled to save her eye, but Keira's retina was too badly damaged to be repaired and the iris has been lost.

Doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London discussed the possibility of removing the eye but decided it could be saved at the last minute. Medics managed to stitch her cornea back together so her eye remains intact.

Keira will now face several more operations as well as cosmetic surgery when the eye stops growing in a few years' time.

Her mother Jeanette has demanded an investigation by the school as to how the accident, just hours after she dropped Keira off for her first day in Year 1, happened.

Building society worker Jeanette, 34, said: "When I left her she skipped away with a smile. She was so excited. But now her life will never be the same again.

"I want an explanation as to how this happened and what the school is doing to prevent it happening to another child.

"Keira's life has been changed forever. I don't want this to happen to anybody else. She is scared of strangers now. She is terrified of doctors because she thinks they're going to do something to her.

"She has been through so much but she hasn't complained. She had been looking forward to going to school so much. She had a new uniform, and new shoes. She was happy when I dropped her off. I didn't think twice."

Jeanette also accused the school of snubbing the family since the accident. She said: "The support from friends, family and doctors has been phenomenal. But the school haven't been in touch."

A spokesman for the school's governing body said Keira's injuries were the result of a "tragic accident" and not a deliberate act.

He said: "We take every care to minimise the risk of accidents occurring on school property. The governors have assured themselves that in this case everything possible had been done to avoid such a tragic accident occurring.

"The the staff responded promptly and efficiently and with great care for all involved. Our thoughts and prayers have been and will continue to be with the family."

Keira is currently being taught at home by a tutor provided by Swindon's Great Western Hospital. She is not expected to be able to return to school for at least eight weeks.

Jeanette added: "She asks me why she can't see out of her eye and will it get better. I can't answer. I don't say 'no', I say 'I don't know'."