Acid attack victim forgives woman despite severe injuries, trauma

Three years ago, Nicolette Beckford’s life took a tragic turn when she became the victim of an acid attack that left her severely scarred, blind in one eye, and struggling to see from the other.

Despite the life-altering consequences, the 46-year-old woman, now a recluse battling depression, says she has forgiven her attacker, Nicolene Gray, and hopes Gray can regain her freedom and reunite with her young daughter.

“I already forgive her,” Beckford told The Gleaner in an interview at her home in Portmore, St Catherine.

“A dat me brother used to curse mi, saying sometimes mi mek mi heart too soft, but at the end of the day, when someone has kids – ‘cause mi love pickney bad – and to know you have a little daughter ... she was six at the time and is soon 10 now. Every little girl needs their mother,” she said.

“So mi forgive har long time. If a mi alone, she coulda gone long ‘bout her business,” Beckford continued. “I will forgive, but mi nuh forget.”

Beckford suffered third-degree burns to her face, shoulder, neck, chest, and back during the October 1, 2021 incident, which occurred on a bus in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew. The bus driver and a passenger were also injured.

Gray, a 43-year-old pay clerk, has been in custody since the incident. She pleaded guilty last month in the Home Circuit Court and will be sentenced on Wednesday on three counts of assault causing grievous bodily harm.

SEEKING PEACE

Beckford said she decided to forgive Gray after her release from the hospital, where she had spent a year enduring multiple surgeries and ongoing pain and discomfort.

“It’s just peace I want. Everything just done,” she said, adding that she would be pleased if Gray could at least reimburse some of the funds spent on medication, noting that at one point, she had to resort to selling her furniture to cover medical bills. Compensation, if possible, would help her to start a small business.

Beckford believes jealousy was the trigger for the attack. Gray had once moved in with Beckford’s then boyfriend, and Beckford later ended the relationship. Two days after Beckford went to her ex-lover’s home to collect money for her birthday, the acid attack occurred.

“I was coming off the bus and mi jus feel something inna mi back, all a mi face. Mi feel mi bag – everything – start melt weh. Mi affi just start tek off some of the jewellery so dem nuh stick inna mi skin, ‘cause it did a melt so fast, a go straight through mi body,” she recalled.

“If yuh look inna de video, yuh see some dirty water beside mi; a it mi use fi try cool down mi body,” she said, referring to footage of her sitting on the ground following the attack.

She described losing her eyesight as the worst part.

The attack forced Beckford to grapple with an entirely new way of life. Before the incident, she was a socialite, working at a grocery store as a clerk and was in the process of building her home. All of that has now been put on hold.

DEPRESSED BUT OPEN TO THERAPY

“Mi mash right up. Mi nuh feel comfortable, like to put on mi clothes, to do mi hair, and go on the road fi enjoy mi self. Mi nuh celebrate birthday no more. Mi life change completely,” Beckford said. “Me never expect mi woulda just have mi life just throw way so,” she added.

“Sometime mi sidung, mi cry, mi stress out, mi grab a cigarette, a spliff, and mi grab a special (alcoholic blend), and me just sidung by miself, and mi good until mi ketch myself,” she said.

However, Beckford said she is open to therapy to deal with all her unresolved issues, including the loss of her brother, who committed suicide last November.

She hopes to get a job caring for the elderly, as she has a natural love for children and the elderly. She also said she would like some assistance with getting her eyes tested and obtaining glasses.

Her mother, a nanny who is nearing 70, is her main source of support.

She also mentioned that she still has surgeries to undergo on her eye, neck, and breast, but those have been set aside due to a lack of funds.

In the meantime, Beckford is warning others to rethink committing such an evil act against another person.

“It rough bad; it’s not nice when all of your life changes completely ... . Mi would neva do this to nobody ‘cause mi know what I went through – sleepless nights, and itching where you can’t even scratch. Maggots live in your body like a hotel,” she said.

Beckford also mentioned that she has given up on romantic relationships.

For now, she said that browsing the Internet with her phone is her main source of joy.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com