Acid Attack Victim Could Hear Her Skin 'Sizzling'

(Sept. 3) –– A Vancouver, Wash., woman attacked with acid on her way to a Starbucks coffee shop says she could feel her face sizzling as her skin began to burn.

"It was the most painful thing," 28-year-old Bethany Storro told reporters. "My heart stopped. I almost passed out. Once it hit me, I could actually hear it bubbling and sizzling on my skin."

Storro was getting something out of her car outside a Starbucks on Aug. 30 when she saw a woman, around her own age, standing before her and heard the chilling words that would change her life: "Hey, pretty little girl, want to take a drink of this?"

Then, inexplicably, the woman threw a cup of acid-like liquid in Storro's face, sending her screaming out in pain in the middle of the busy street. Passers-by rushed to her aid and called 911.

Storro had just moved to Vancouver, just north of Portland, Ore., to be with her parents after living in Idaho. She said she had never seen her attacker before that day. Police say the bizarre and horrific acid assault –– far more common in other areas of the world –– appears to be random. There are so far no suspects, and the motive remains unclear.

The acid was so strong that parts of Storro's shirt simply disintegrated, The Oregonian reported. Doctors said Storro suffered second-degree burns all over her face –– except, fortunately, on her eyes, which were protected by a pair of sunglasses she bought less than an hour before the attack. Doctors said the glasses may have saved her eyesight.

But the excruciating pain didn't stop Storro –– who is hard of hearing because of two bouts of spinal meningitis she suffered as a child –– from joking around Thursday night in front of family members and reporters.

"Oh, my gosh, to be hard of hearing and blind? That would drive them nuts," she said of her parents. "They have to be in the same room for me to hear them. I'm just so glad it's a miracle."

Her father, Joe Neuwelt, was less jovial. "You can imagine how I feel," he said. "This is my little girl." Her mother, Nancy Neuwelt, called the attack "an act of evil," according to The Associated Press.

Storro described the attacker as a black woman in her late 20s or early 30s, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, according to The Oregonian. She said she could feel the woman's rage.

"I have never, ever seen this girl in my entire life," Storro told reporters Thursday. "When I first saw her, she had this weirdness about her –– like jealousy, rage."

Storro underwent surgery Wednesday to remove some of the charred skin, a procedure doctors said was successful, CBS reported. She is expected to make a full recovery, but it will be a long process. Storro said she will eventually forgive her attacker.

"In time I'm going to forgive her because if I don't then it's hard to move on with my life," she said.

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You can forgive someone but still shoot them in the face if you ever see them again can't you?

"In time I'm going to forgive her because if I don't then it's hard to move on with my life," she said.

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Absolutely.

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You can forgive someone but still shoot them in the face if you ever see them again can't you?

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Absolutely SICK.

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She is seriously lucky- especially the eyes.



Those burns could have been a WHOLE lot worse.

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You know, this makes me think, there is no punishment severe enough.

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What a fucked up thing to do to somebody.

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I have a few ideas.

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You know, this makes me think, there is no punishment severe enough.

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Has this attacker been apprehended?  Or, more conveniently, has she ended up in the bottom of a river?

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I'm not sure how you interpret "lucky", but I'm thinking getting acid thrown in your face isn't such a lucky thing, unless you mean bad luck.

Yes, it could have been worse.  I hope they catch the attacker and send her away for good.  People capable of doing this, much less doing it to a stranger who's never done anything to them, are beyond help, in my opinion.

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She was lucky ins the sense that for an acid burn, her injuries seem to be relatively minor. A simple Google search will show how bad an acid attack can be.

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The hand of god itself could not stop me if i was her father.

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+1 I have two daughters.  If someone hurts them, they had better turn themselves in or eat a bullet before I can get my hands on them.

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WHY IS THIS NOT BEING REPORTED AS A HATE CRIME?



Oh... I know why.

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She is seriously lucky- especially the eyes.



Those burns could have been a WHOLE lot worse.

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+1 I have two daughters.  If someone hurts them, they had better turn themselves in or eat a bullet before I can get my hands on them.

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You know, this makes me think, there is no punishment severe enough.

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Man that is really sad, most of them were very young when it happened too.  I do not understand the thought process of those people that would do this.

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Bingo:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GztVy14MvWY



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GztVy14MvWY



5 years probation - fair trade.

 

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