Irish Bat-Attack Victim Back Home
McShane flew home late last week
Monday, Jul 12, 2010 | Updated 7:00 AM CDT
Natasha McShane
The Irish exchange student who was brutally beaten with a baseball bat during a mugging in Bucktown has headed home.
Natasha McShane, who along with friend Stacy Jurich was robbed in a violent encounter on April 23, is back in Ireland Monday after leaving the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the Sun-Times reports.
She was flown to the Northern Ireland hospital where she will undergo brain surgery this week. A Chicago surgeon will assist via satellite.
McShane took the worst of the beating from suspects Heriberto Viramontes, 30, and Marcy Cruz, 25.
The attack left her with severe brain damage, which led Chicago doctors to place her in a medically induced coma. She spent more than a month in the coma, and in June, after doctors removed a portion of her brain, she was able to use her arms and to talk in whispers, her parents said.
Viramontes and Cruz have both been charged with 25 felony counts including attempted murder. Both have pleaded not guilty.
