Acid attack victim seeks help
MONTEGO BAY, St James — LIFE for 17-year-old Tichina Miller has become extremely painful since last year when her face was disfigured by the mother of one of her schoolmates.
According to Miller’s account, the mother of her one-time friend doused her with acid after the friendship soured.
Consequently, the emotionally and physically battered girl who hails from Albion, Montego Bay, is seeking financial assistance to cover expenses for a plastic surgery operation.
Tichina’s woes started in March last year when her siblings damaged a textbook she borrowed from her classmate, who had rented it from the Green Pond High School.
She told the Observer West that on March 11, after she failed to return the book in good condition, a dispute, which later became physical, developed between both girls who were, at the time, Grade 11 students.
The row took an ugly turn the weekend when Tichina was confronted by her schoolmate in the town centre. It was then that the schoolmate’s mother reportedly splashed her with acid, commonly referred to as ‘monkey lotion’. They disappeared after the incident and have not been seen or heard from by the victims since.
The promising young student was hopitalised for over six months, putting a hold on her academic aspirations.
She is now burdened with unattractive weals on the left side of her face and other sections of her body.
Tichina’s mother, Ann Marie Gordon, a domestic worker, bemoaned that she was unable to further shoulder her daughter’s medical expenses as she exhausted all her funds on medical bills incurred during the six months her daughter was hospitalised.
“Everybody see her trouble her because she never used to associate with people…I don’t know the cost but any assistance I get would be accepted,” Tichina’s distraught mother said as she battled desperately to hold back the tears.
Tichina’s friend, Amaria Cunningham, is also anxious to see her helped.
“We know it is a (book) rental and she had to pay for it but is this the way she has to pay for it… by burning up her face?” she queried.
Want to help?
A number of kind Observer readers have contacted us asking how they can assist Tichina. You can contact her mother Ann Marie Gordon, whose cellphone number is (876) 334-5233 or transfer funds to her VMBS savings account No. 23600893.