Assistant Principal ‘Blinded’ in One Eye After Student Attack with Hanger

• Collins Intermediate School Assistant Principal Candra Rogers was attacked by a student with a wooden hanger on Aug. 15
• “Doctors were able to reinsert my eye, however, they determined I had been blinded, and currently believe my [eye] damage is permanent,” she told reporters on Tuesday, Aug. 27
• “The hanger hit me in my right eye and knocked it out of the socket,” Rogers recalled of the attack

An assistant principal in Texas could lose her eyesight in one eye after being attacked by a student.

On Tuesday, Aug. 27, Collins Intermediate School Assistant Principal Candra Rogers spoke to reporters after she was taken to hospital with a severely injured eye following the Aug. 15 lunchtime attack, per video shared by outlets including NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, KWTX and CBS News.

While speaking to reporters, Rogers recalled how she walked into the classroom with the student in question after a behavioral teacher called for assistance on the radio that day.

Per KWTX, Rogers said one student who’d reportedly been assaulted by the class member was outside the classroom with the teacher, and the other students and was holding his head.

“I entered where the student was still irate and found the room ransacked with overturned furniture. I knew I had to be as calm as possible and I spoke lowly and slowly,” the assistant principal said, adding, “He finally did throw it at me but I caught it mid-air.”

“He picked up another chair to throw at me when another assistant principal entered the room. I used the first chair to block the second. He picked up a third and threw it at the other assistant principal and I used that initial chair to block the one that he threw at her,” Rogers alleged.

The student then threw a wooden hanger at Rogers, she said, adding that she “couldn’t stop it fast enough.”

“The hanger hit me in my right eye and knocked it out of the socket,” Rogers recalled, per the outlet. “I grabbed my face while blood was pouring out of my head and stumbled out of the classroom door.”

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Rogers explained how she was airlifted to Parkland Medical Center in Dallas, and “underwent surgery as soon as possible.”

“Doctors were able to reinsert my eye, however, they determined I had been blinded, and currently believe my [eye] damage is permanent,” she said.

Rogers explained how she will now have to have an “additional surgery to repair my eyelid,” adding that removing her eye “may have to be an option.”

Per a Corsicana Independent School District (CISD) news release, “The student has been restricted to a specific location and cannot be on campus.”

“The matter has been referred to the District Attorney’s office and the Juvenile Probation Department. CISD anticipates the DA’s office will take additional steps to address the student’s action through the juvenile court system,” the release added, confirming it’s not yet known when Rogers will return to work.

“The school district’s intent is to protect its staff and students, and it will cooperate with local law enforcement authorities and the District Attorney’s office to the fullest extent possible in this matter,” the release continued.

“Our focus remains on Mrs. Rogers, her family, and our students and staff at Collins,” CISD Superintendent Stephanie Howell said, per the release. “This incident affects our whole district, as well. We want our teachers and staff to feel safe at work, just as we want our students to feel safe in school.” 

CISD stated that “several factors” prevent them and the DA’s office “from providing details to the public, most notably privacy rights of the victim, privacy rights of the juvenile, and the ongoing investigation.”

“We are not going to shy away from being open to the public, but we are going to follow the law first,” Howell added, per the release. 

The Navarro County District Attorney’s Office and CISD did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.