Katie Gee, 29, was left with 35% burns to the right side of her face and body, while her right ear was ‘burnt to a crisp’ in the unprovoked attack in Stone Town, Zanzibar
A woman who underwent a staggering 70 operations after a horrific acid attack in Zanzibar now feels ‘confident’ in her scars. Katie Gee was just 18 years old when two strangers doused her in acid while she was volunteering in the historic city of Stone Town.
The devastating assault not only burned her ear ‘to a crisp’ but left the right side of her face and body in 35% burns. She then had no option but to embark on a painful recovery journey, spending two-and-a-half months in the burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
Now 29, Katie reflected: “I was on the way and two men on a motorbike came past. They stopped for half a second. I was about to turn to say ‘what do they want?’ and as I was turning back they threw it.
“I tried to wipe my eyes. I tried to read the number plate. It started to burn straight away. I wasn’t sure at first if it was a really hot pot of coffee. I had heard of Katie Piper. I put two and two together.”
In the moments after the attack, Katie remembered a restaurant she’d previously visited with a shower inside. She ran to it and was shocked at what she saw in the mirror.
“It was a yellow, green colour. I was wearing baggy trousers, trainers and a t-shirt and hoodie,” she said. “The acid was burning through the hoodie and burnt off the trousers. My ear got burnt off. They said it had burnt off like a crisp.”
For the next three years, Katie had to wear a plastic face mask while undergoing 70 surgeries, including 12-hour skin graft procedures. Not only has this been painful but ‘uncomfortable’ too, as strangers often stare and friends have even failed to recognise her.
But now, she feels at peace with her scars and has even started documenting her story on TikTok to help others with body confidence and makeup for scarred skin. She also went on to graduate from Nottingham University with a 2:1 in sociology and has spent the last five years in real estate.
“I want to be a body positive person who is confident in her scars,” she said, and later added: “Now if someone wants to stares I will just stare back and make them feel very uncomfortable. I don’t have any shame anymore.”
The culprits – who ‘smiled’ before dousing Katie in acid – have never been caught over the attack in the main city Stone Town. Katie said: “It is still something I think about every day.”
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