Schaumburg student welcomed back after losing eye in attack

When the doctors told Shirley Henry they weren't able to save her granddaughter's eye, Henry said it "almost killed me. I was just devastated."

She couldn't bring herself to break the news to her granddaughter, Schaumburg High School senior Andria Sanders, leaving that job to Sanders' parents.

But the 17-year-old, who was struck in the face while caught in a brawl in Chicago while visiting her other grandmother, is the one who's been a pillar of strength through her ordeal.

"Her spirit has been up. It's been, you know, godlike," said Henry, who has raised Sanders. "She's such a sweet and kindhearted person. This really shouldn't have happened to her."

That kindness and positivity came back to Sanders Monday morning, when she returned to school for the first time since the attack three weeks ago.

Classmates and teachers - many wearing eye patches themselves to show their allegiance - "whooped and hollered and cheered" when Sanders arrived for class, Henry said. It was all a surprise for Sanders, arranged by some of her fellow students.

"Everything was so beautiful to me," Sanders said. "It was nice. I felt it was respectful. They felt they were doing it to make me feel comfortable."

"It was just wonderful," added Henry, who was in on the surprise. "I wish I had money to pour into schools like that because I have never seen a reaction from teachers and students like that. They gave her so much love and support."

Now Sanders will be busy catching up with her schoolwork, though she was able to get started on that while mending in the hospital and at home, thanks to classmates and her guidance counselor, Brent Swolsky.

"I missed school," Sanders said. "To go back, it was everything!"

The injury happened while Sanders and her cousin were standing outside a store on the 100 block of West 115th Street in Chicago on the morning of Oct. 18.

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Sanders said. "We saw a group of people running up carrying bricks and bottles and they started fighting with my cousin. She was hurt, but not as bad as I was."

Four people, including a 16-year-old juvenile and a 17-year-old from Barrington, have been charged in the attack.

Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office, said the investigation of the past three weeks has borne out that Sanders and her cousin were innocent bystanders.

The suspects who were charged in the brawl had apparently returned to the area to retaliate against those involved in an earlier altercation at the store, Conklin said.

Although Sanders has been striving to put on a brave face throughout her recovery, it hasn't always been easy.

"I've been trying to have high spirits, but it hurts," Sanders said. "Knowing that I was going into surgery to have my eye removed was very emotional."

Nevertheless, in her aim to get her life back to normal as soon as possible, she headed off to her afternoon restaurant job after what was anything but a typical day at school Monday.

"My whole day was crazy," she laughed.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=330126">Schaumburg High senior's eye injured in Sunday morning fight <span class="date">[10/19/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>