Dean Shiels who will be 21 next week is to undergo surgery to remove an eye that was damaged in a domestic accident when he was an 8 year old kid.
The eye has been giving Dean some troubles recently suffering pain and discomfort as pressure from burst blood vessels has built up behind the eye giving him headaches and after discussions with a specialist and his family Dean has decided to get the eye out.
Manager and Player had this to say to the official Hibs site:-
Mogga said: “Dean has shown us that he is a young man of remarkable spirit and determination in achieving all that he has done already in the game – he earned his first full international cap in recent months - despite having no sight in one eye. That same spirit will see him achieve even more in his career in the future."
Dean said: “Since the accident, I have had no sight at all in the eye despite several operations when I was younger. At that time it was always envisaged that there might come a time when the damaged eye might have to be removed.
“In the past few months, the condition of the eye has deteriorated and it has been causing me other problems such as severe headaches.
“I have had specialist advice, and after talking this over with my family I have taken the decision to have the eye removed now. While it is important that the fans understand the reason that I am not involved at the moment, I don’t want people to make too big a deal of this. I will be very happy if I am just allowed to get on with the operation and then get back to playing football once I have fully recovered.
“I have had no sight in the eye since before I started playing football, so I suppose it is something I have just grown up with and never really regarded as a problem. However I am keen to be back involved with the squad, and the problems I’m encountering now need to be resolved to allow me to get back to what I enjoy most – playing football.”
We at Hibernian-mad wish Dean all the best and hope he has a quick and successful recovery
Brian Hine