What types of acid burns are there?
1st degree burn: moderate redness appears, the affected area burns and hurts.
2nd degree burn: more intense redness, swelling, severe pain, blisters may appear on the skin.
3rd degree burn: skin necrosis, burn areas change color (may become completely white, or vice versa, darken), tissue around the burn turns red, severe pain.
4th degree burn: necrosis of the skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles, severe pain.
| REFERENCE | |
| Skin necrosis – death of skin cells as a result of injury, the skin swells and breaks down | |
How to provide first aid if acid gets on your skin?
1. First of all, it is recommended to thoroughly rinse the burned area with running water (for 15-20 minutes) to reduce the concentration of the chemical. After this, you should wash the affected area again with soapy water or a solution of baking soda (a teaspoon of baking soda per glass of water).
2. Try not to touch the burned area with your hands, this may cause acid residue to get on you and cause pain to the victim. In general, it is better to carry out all manipulations with thick gloves.
3. Free the burned surface of the skin from clothing; if you cannot remove it, cut it off with scissors. However, do not peel the fabric from the surface of the skin unless it is removable.
4. If a person is in shock (he turns pale, breathing quickens, the pulse is barely palpable), the victim should be given 15-20 drops of valerian tincture.
5. After providing first aid, you must consult a doctor.
Personal life of Eleanor Kondratyuk: The beauty doused with acid got married
A 17-year-old schoolgirl, a native of Dagomys, received third place, the audience award and the title “Miss Charm” at the Miss Sochi beauty contest in 1998. Photo: Victor KLYUSHKIN/TASS
Many people remember the story of Eleonora Kondratyuk from Sochi. A 17-year-old schoolgirl, a native of Dagomys, received third place, the audience award and the title “Miss Charm” at the Miss Sochi beauty contest in 1998.
It seemed that a dizzying future awaited the blond beauty. But in 1999, the girl was attacked: some thug came up from behind, grabbed her by the hair and poured a jar of acid in her face...
"Unbearable pain"
19 years later, Eleanor wrote the book “I Chose Life.” This is how she talks about her experience then:
“It was a painful, unlike anything I had ever experienced before, unbearable, corroding, burning pain! With every second it became stronger and stronger, piercing deeper into the body. Being in a state of shock, for some reason I ran, not seeing where, and crashed into some rough concrete wall with all my might... As my doctors say, with such a concentration - 92% - of sulfuric acid, this liquid weapon, even winter clothes wouldn't help. The nylon T-shirt burned in a split second - drops of flowing flammable muck that fell on the capris instantly corroded them, the bag smoldered, but it was its wide and very dense strap that took the first blow, keeping the strip of skin on the shoulder unharmed... The acid first hit the forehead, and then spread over the face, neck, chest and arms. The feeling of liquid chewing gum in my mouth was explained by a burn to the mucous membrane, since several drops got into my mouth, I also received a burn to the trachea, esophagus and stomach. Needless to say, what unbearable pain accompanied this condition, and all the doctors could do was only administer painkillers; otherwise, they were powerless. Examining me every day, again and again they stated that it was still impossible to operate, it was necessary to wait until the corroding process was over, but there was practically no chance of survival..."
Over time, the girl’s condition only worsened, she began to be overcome by nightmares that seemed real, she did not even understand that she was blind.
Eleanor has been fighting for her life and health for the last 19 years. Photo: Social networks
Punishment for refusal
Later it turned out that what happened to Elya was a brutal reprisal ordered by a bandit who received a refusal from the beauty (see “Specifically”). But then the girl had no time to think about who and why attacked her.
“A phase of complete indifference to oneself, indifferent detachment from the world around us, has begun,” Eleanor admitted in the book. “They did something to me, they moved me somewhere, but I wonder where, why?” “I no longer had the strength or desire.”
The girl could not eat on her own for 10 days. The question was about a complex operation on the stomach, but, fortunately, the mucous membrane miraculously began to recover. Doctors began to clean the wounds and performed a multi-hour operation, during which the patient’s heart stopped twice. Finally, the doctors told the family: “The operation is over. Elya will spend this night on artificial respiration. Pray! If she survives until morning today, she will live.”
Eleanor survived.
The photo shows the culmination of the awarding of the title Miss Charm in Sochi in 1998.
"Trial and error"
All these past 19 years, Eleanor Kondratyuk has been fighting for life and health. She had skin transplants, hair restoration on her head, eye surgery...
Eleanor became a professional psychologist and wrote her book, among other things, as a guide for people in trouble. Throughout the treatment, she kept a diary - she spoke her feelings into a voice recorder. I couldn’t write - I was blind. When, after several operations to transplant a donor cornea, one eye began to see, the girl began to write herself...
For many years, Eleanor lived like a hermit, not showing herself to strangers and being afraid to look at herself in the mirror. Only now, having undergone about 200 operations, has she returned to a full life.
“I am grateful for the help that was given to me,” Eleanor told KP over the phone.
Eleanor (right) with friends.
— They say you are hiding from journalists.
- No, it’s just that now I find myself on the operating table again. Therefore, one might say, I fenced myself off again. I was forced to go abroad. And now there remains a risk of vision loss. There was such an injury from which, in principle, one cannot survive or recover. I constantly had to look for doctors, clinics, methods, procedures. Find out what works and what doesn't through trial and error...
- Where are you now?
— I’m in the Czech Republic for examination. But so far the only person who can help me with my vision is Professor Reinhard from Germany. That's why I spend a lot of time in Germany.
— I read that you were given a donor cornea. You began to see little by little, but it didn’t take root... And yet now you see?
- Yes, I see, and it’s so wonderful! I really appreciate it, I try to notice all the beauty around me.
— Your good friend was amazed when you in the hospital, being between life and death, asked her to donate the remaining medicines to those who need them...
- We are all humans. By helping others, you help yourself - morally. You understand your usefulness. It's nice when someone feels better.
At the Miss Sochi 98 beauty contest, Eleanor is number 6.
“A husband is a gift for all suffering”
— How is your personal life?
- Everything is fine. I recently got married. My husband is just a godsend for all my suffering. I think we can regard it that way. He is a Muscovite, a scientist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, geneticist. We met in a common company in Moscow. They began to communicate, and... love. Now he is with me, helps me, supports me.
— Your husband probably understands your struggle for health well - he is, in fact, a doctor?
- Not really. Although there is a medical component to some extent in his research. He's a molecular biologist. A very noble person, with a big heart and an open soul. I'm very happy with him. I won’t mention my husband’s name, sorry. He is not a public person and does not want media attention.
- We're happy for you!
- Thanks a lot!
Eleanor decided to make revelations only 19 years later.
SPECIFICALLY
"You will cry tears of blood"
Who ordered the beauty? It is known that this man’s name is Ruben Grigoryan. This is what Eleanor writes in the book:
“One April day, a car blocked my path. A healthy man, more than two meters tall, came out of it and, shyly and stammeringly, offered to meet. Waving my hand negatively, I walked around the car and would never have remembered this if a month later I had not run into him at an industrial exhibition. He scared me again with his appearance! He persistently followed me... Mutual acquaintances told me: there is little information about this man, he has a bad reputation - he gets money in some dishonest way. He was married, but his wife was eventually taken from him at gunpoint by her father. Hysterical. I asked him not to meet me on my way again and not to lie in wait anywhere.
After a short lull, this G. (in the book Eleanor does not name him. - Ed.) again appeared in front of me. He behaved hysterically, with deliberate tears, pleas and requests, then manipulations were added - he threatened that he would commit suicide if I did not pay attention to him. I didn't give him any reason...
Later, he decided to switch to threats: “You will regret this and cry tears of blood, but then you won’t be able to escape anywhere and you will come running to me!”
“Should we go to the police?” — I thought, but stopped my friend’s story. She had problems with her husband, and when she contacted the internal affairs authorities, they answered her: “But he hasn’t killed you yet? This means that there is no corpus delicti, we can’t help in any way.”
Eleanor with doctors Alekseev and Sarygin at the Institute of Surgery named after. A.V. Vishnevsky after 19 years.
What stupidity! I should have at least turned to my friends for help, but I didn’t want to involve people in an unpleasant story.”
To carry out the crime, Grigoryan hired assistants for $1,000 for everyone - Nubaryan and Voskonyan, as well as order executors Adgur Gochua and Roman Dbar. He himself went to Yaroslavl and supervised them by telephone. In case of wiretapping, he ordered me to call myself Igor and encode all key phrases. “Pour acid on” sounded like “bring tangerines.”
Grigoryan was detained in 2000 due to characteristic features: he had a long scar on his head and a prosthetic instead of an eye, which he lost during a gang war, for which he received the nickname Cyclops. He went to prison for 11 years and has already been released. His accomplices Nubarian and Voskonyan, who bought the acid and brought the perpetrators to the crime scene, received 6 and 7 years in prison, respectively. One of the perpetrators of the attack, Dbara, was killed before the trial, during a gang war. His corpse was identified by burns on his face (Elya tried to resist, and he also received several splashes of acid). The second, Gochua, was sentenced to a scandalously short term - only 5 years in prison.
What burns cannot be washed with water?
Remember that rinsing is contraindicated for burns caused by quicklime or organic aluminum compounds, which become much more active when in contact with water. The area affected by lime should be treated with vegetable oil, with which to remove the chemical compound from the surface of the skin, and then make a lotion from a 5% solution of citric or acetic acid. Aluminum compounds should be treated with kerosene or unleaded gasoline. If phenol gets on your skin, use a 40% solution of ethyl alcohol; if you get phosphoric acid, first remove particles of phosphorus from the skin, and then wash it with a 5% solution of copper sulfate or a solution of potassium permanganate.
Katie Piper
The British TV presenter met her boyfriend Daniel Lynch on social networks. An athlete and a gallant boyfriend - this is how the man seemed to Katie, the truth about which she did not know: Lynch had previously been behind bars for assaulting a person. Piper became his victim after two weeks of dating. Daniel beat the girl, subjected her to violence and threatened to kill her if Piper went to the police. And two days later, his accomplice doused the presenter with acid.
A girl doused with acid as a child teaches her not to give up and continue to live.
When baby Anmol, which means “priceless” in Hindi, was only two months old, tragedy struck
The injuries were terrible: the substance damaged internal organs, eroded eyelids, ears, face, neck, and chest. Piper underwent 40 (according to other sources - 80) operations, recovery took about 9 years. The criminals received life sentences, and Katie, as she herself says, received an important lesson: “Now I love life more than before and believe that I have a wonderful future.” The TV presenter got married and gave birth to a daughter five years ago.
Katie Piper after several operations and now. Photo: Globallook, Instagram
What not to do?
1. Burned areas should not be lubricated with fats, ointments or sprinkled with starch.
2. Do not open blisters if they are formed from a burn on the surface of the skin.
3. Do not use tampons, towels or napkins to remove acid from the victim - this will only rub them into the skin.
4. If you are not sure what kind of acid you have suffered from, you should not try to neutralize it yourself! Simply wash the damaged area with water and a baking soda solution.
5. Under no circumstances leave the victim without professional medical assistance. The first aid you provide does not cancel calling an ambulance.
Jessica Notaro
In 2007, the bright brunette became a finalist in the Miss Italy competition. Jessica managed to combine her modeling career, work at the dolphinarium and her personal life. The beauty began a fatal affair with dark-skinned Edson Tavares. After a period of flowers and dates, the man began to show cruelty and Notaro broke up with him, refusing marriage. Distraught, Edson took the extreme step: he attacked his ex-girlfriend, throwing acid in her face. The beauty queen was urgently hospitalized with burns to her face, neck and eyes. The main thing Jessica prayed for was to preserve her vision.
Jessica Notaro with her ex-boyfriend who attacked her. Photo: Globallook
After leaving the clinic, Notaro spoke about her experience on a talk show, where she first addressed Tavares, showing her mutilated face. “I want you to see what you did to me,” the girl said. Pain, expensive drugs (medicines cost about 800 euros per month), operations are a thing of the past for her. A year and a half after the tragedy, Jessica took part in a dance show and walked on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival, where she looked brilliant.
Jessica Notaro (left) at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. Photo: Globallook
Lakshmi Agarwal
An Indian woman paid with her health and appearance for refusing to get married. When she was 15, a 32-year-old man bombarded her with love messages and demanded her immediate consent to the wedding. And when he didn’t receive it, he doused Lakshmi with a caustic mixture at the bus stop. “I begged for help, but no one helped me. Everyone was running in the opposite direction. I felt my flesh burning and I covered my eyes with my hands. This reflex action saved me from complete blindness,” the girl recalls.
For the next eight years, Agarwal barely left the house. The girl could not find a job, her acquaintances turned away from her, and meanwhile the offender was released. Everything changed after 2013. Lakshmi achieved restrictions on the sale of acid, and during the campaign she met a journalist who became her husband.
Lakshmi Agarwal became the face of the clothing brand. Photo: YouTube
Reshma Kuresha
The girl became an accidental victim of an acid attack. The attack was organized by her older sister's ex-husband, from whom she fled due to violence. But Reshma, 17 at the time, also got it. Unable to get money from the authorities for surgery and rehabilitation, Kuresha received help from charitable organizations. And soon she herself became an activist fighting against the free circulation of acid in India.
And besides, a beauty blogger. On her page, Reshma talks about her experience and shows how she uses cosmetics to disguise scars and injuries. Two years ago, the victim was invited to walk the runway at designer Archana Kochhar's show. Kuresha did this to a standing ovation, all with the same goal - to draw attention to a pressing problem in India.
Ksenia Karpova
acid attack
