'I Survived An Acid Attack'

Five years ago Katie Gee was travelling in Zanzibar when a stranger attacked her, changing her life forever. Here, she shares the details of that fateful day and how she has overcome the trauma to travel again

- Kate Graham

Imagine a thousand wasp stings on your body, a pain so sharp, so unbearable, that your legs buckle beneath you. I had been walking down a dusty street in Zanzibar laughing with my friend, when out of the blue we were attacked with acid. The memory of it still makes me shake: the splash of cold liquid on my skin, the paralysis in my body as it froze with shock, the panic as I heard Kirstie’s piercing screams. It’s strange to reflect on how, in a split second, your life can change irreversibly. Five years on, I’m still having surgery to help my body recover from what happened that day. Deep down, though, the mental scars will take much longer to heal.

Kirstie and I arrived in Stone Town, Zanzibar, an island off the mainland of Tanzania, four weeks earlier, in August 2013, searching for adventure. It was an opportunity I’d looked forward to for months – the chance to volunteer, see something of the world, and relax before the intensity of A-level results and university. We began teaching at a local primary school, getting to know the locals and immersing ourselves in the culture, while at weekends we explored the beautiful local beaches near our hotel.

We witnessed extreme poverty and were conscious of our positions as outsiders, but we never felt threatened. The people we met were incredibly friendly and we saw women and girls treated equally in mixed schools, so we never had a sense of misogyny, either. Much of the population in Zanzibar is Muslim, so we were sensitive to the local customs, dressing respectfully and even offering to take off our Star of David jewellery (we are both Jewish). But we were told it wasn’t necessary, and were welcomed warmly by the children and their families who invited us into their lives.