News From Around: Brave Acid Attack Survivor Recalls The Horrific Ordeal That Nearly Killed Him

Monday, July 31, 2017

Brave Acid Attack Survivor Recalls The Horrific Ordeal That Nearly Killed Him

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Being a victim of an acid attack has to to rank as one of the worst things that can ever happen to a person. Your face is what makes you, you. Those little unique features that you hate, they make you who you are. So the fact that someone can alter your face in the matter of seconds through a cowardly act, is frightening.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to wake up and not recognise yourself, to not be the person you once were. Sadly, this is becoming a more regular reality for some people as acid attacks are on the rise across the UK. Andreas Christopheros is one of these people. He was the innocent victim to a violent crime that was performed in a case of mistaken identity, and the repercussions from the incident cannot be reversed. In December 2014, Andreas was attacked in his own home by a stranger, who threw sulphuric acid all over the young father from Truro, UK. The attack nearly killed Andreas who was left no eyelids, a near fatal infection and facial scarring that he will have for the rest of his life. Bravely speaking out about the ordeal, Andreas said: “I opened my front door and instantly received a beaker of sulphuric acid to the face. My son could’ve been stood next to me, by my feet, and that would’ve killed him. It almost killed me.” Horribly for Andreas, the attack was a case of mistaken identity. David Phillips, who was the violent criminal who attack him, was searching for a man who he believed had sexually assaulted his partner; this man wasn’t Andreas. After the attack had happened, Andreas was put on “death watch” due to the severity of the injuries that he had sustained. Doctors initially feared that he could die in the weeks that followed and there was a high risk of a life threatening infection getting into the open wounds that occupied his face. Speaking about the months in hospital, Andreas describes how he was terrified that his son would be scared of him. I couldn’t talk. I had a lot of tubes coming out of me. You lie in a hospital bed thinking, will my son recognise me? Will he be scared of me? When he looked at me and just grabbed my wife, my heart sank. Andreas also spoke about the severity of his injuries, saying: “My whole face has been rebuilt with various bits of my body. All my forehead has been skin grafted. All my cheeks. There has been so much contraction that I’m on my third set of eyelids now. Not having eyelids is a pretty horrible form of torture. You can’t close your eyes. You can’t get away from the lights. it’s a horrific place to be in.” He added that the injuries have affected everything that he does, even the little things such as going to the toilet or making a cup of tea. “It’s affected every aspect of my life. From the moment I wake up in the morning, I have to start dealing with the challenges I face daily. It generally takes me half an hour to get out of bed and gain sight enough to, you know, make a cup of tea. You are reliant on everybody else to do everything for you – even to take you to the toilet. You wouldn’t be human, you’d have to be pretty emotionless to go what I go through without having bad days.” The attacker will be out of jail in 5 years time and Andreas doesn’t feel like he has served a fair sentence for his crimes. “I’ll be wearing my scars all my life. I’ll be blind in my left eye all my life. I’ll still be classed as visually impaired in my right. There’s no miracle cure for me. There’s nothing to give me back what I lost. And yet my attacker’s going to be out on the streets in five years? It just seems ludicrous.” The bravery of Andreas should be applauded. To speak out about the affects that this attack has had on him, takes a lot of courage. Sadly, acid attacks are becoming a more regular occurrence in the UK, so this may not be the last story we hear.