LI college student doused with acid recalls ‘worse than death experience’
The Long Island college student who was doused with acid in her own driveway felt like her face was “going to melt” — and believed she was going to die — after the startling attack that left her nearly blind and with severe burns.
Nafiah Ikram, 21, had just arrived at her Elmont home after her work shift at CVS on March 17 when she spotted a man watching from the corner — who charged at her and tossed a cup of liquid in her face, she told The Post on Thursday.
“I remember thinking in my head, ‘God please, I’m 21 years old. This is not how I want to die.’ It was horrible,” Ikram said.
In the immediate aftermath, Ikram said she didn’t fully understand what had happened, but a few seconds later “my face started burning.”
She ran inside her house and told her dad that somebody had thrown something in her face.
“He said ‘Oh my God, Nafiah it’s acid, call 911,” Ikram recalled.
“When my dad said it was acid I was like ‘Oh my God my face,'” she continued. “In my head I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, my face is going to melt.'”
Hearing the commotion, mom Sherina Mohamed, a nurse practitioner, hurried over and began washing her daughter’s face, eyes and mouth with water.
“By the time she started washing my face off in the bathroom, I kept telling her not to throw water in my face because I couldn’t breathe,” Ikram said.
“The acid got in my throat.” The following moments were excruciating. “My nerves went on fire,” Ikram said.
“At that point I wasn’t thinking. Then I couldn’t breathe … after that it was just pain, constant.”
She thought for weeks that she was blind, but then slowly began to improve.
“Right now they’re saying the skin on my face will heal so that’s a good thing,” Ikram said. “I’m going to have a scar of course but that’s fine.”
Doctors are unsure whether she will regain her vision.
Ikram and her family believe she was targeted, but the reason is a mystery. “I just want to understand why someone would do something this brutal to a person,” she said
“The main concern right now is my eye, because they’ve seen burns similar to mine but because of the fact it’s acid, they’ll never know if I’ll get my vision back 100 percent.”
Her father, Sheikh Ikram, 50, called the incident “a planned attack.”
“If it was a random attack, why did … they waited for her to come home,” he told The Post Wednesday night, adding that if the suspect had struck a few minutes earlier, his wife — who was outside at that time — could have been the victim.
“They come very closely to her and it was so much acid, like almost … you can say one pound,” the distraught father said.
Nafiah, who is studying medicine at Hofstra University and plans to become a doctor, was rushed to the hospital by her mother, who also works there.
“If I was not home, if my wife was not home … it would be maybe too late for her to even survive,” Sheikh Ikram added.
Nassau County Police confirmed that the suspect is a tall, slim man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and gloves.
He was seen carrying a white cup containing a dark substance.
Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder on Thursday said police believe the attacker fled in a 2013-2015 red Nissan Altima with New York plates.
He urged anyone with information to come forward. A $20,000 reward is being offered by CrimeStoppers.
“For that person that’s listening that did the act, my advice is surrender yourself now because we’re coming for you. We’re going to get you,” Ryder said.
Even with the intense pain she suffered, the brave young woman expressed concern about what her parents went through.
“My parents had to watch me almost die right in front of their face…,” Ikram said. “Forget the pain that I went through, I’m their only child so it’s like times ten.”
