'I just want my life back' ... Young woman pleads for help after acid attack

Young woman pleads for help after acid attack

Despite the senseless acid attack by a possessive ex-boyfriend, leaving her face horribly disfigured and her life turned upside down, 18-year-old Lamonia Madourie says she has forgiven him and is now focused on fulfilling her life's dream of becoming a registered nurse.

According to Madourie, a resident of Salt Spring in St James, her former lover, 23-years-old Romario Robinson, was verbally and physically abusive during the course of their three-year relationship.

"He used to tell me that if I leave him he would kill me so that no one else would get me, but I never reported it," she said.

But her life-changing moment came two days before Valentine's Day last year when she was doused with acid, allegedly by Robinson.

The St James Parish Court last Friday convicted Robinson of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison last Friday. Robinson denied the allegations at trial.

Madourie said her ordeal started after she told Robinson that the relationship was over, but later agreed to meet up with him in Montego Bay after he promised he would be a better man.

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While the couple were at Old Hospital Park, popularly called Lovers' Park, on that fateful evening, Robinson reportedly said he was going to purchase some drinks. Madourie said that he was taking longer than expected and was not responding to her calls. She said that when he finally answered his phone, he told her that the bartender was taking a long time to make his change.

"Shortly afterwards, I saw a man attired in dark hoodie emerge out of nowhere," she recalled. "I became scared, took my heels off and began to leave Lovers' Park, when I heard a shuffling and the same man in the hoodie attacked me and threw the acid on me."

Her boyfriend would then appear to take her to the hospital.

"At the hospital, I told him that I knew it was him," she told WESTERN STAR. "He began to cry and started to confess that he did it and said he is sorry."

Madourie spent 19 weeks in the Cornwall Regional Hospital while Robinson was arrested, charged and placed before the court.

"I did not go to the sentencing, but I have forgiven him," she said. "I look forward to continue my life and fulfil my purpose that Christ has in store for me."

Madourie is now seeking support to do plastic surgery, as she still intends to fulfil her dream of becoming a registered nurse.

"If there is a group, health institution or corporate firm that is willing to invest in the life of an ambitious young lady, I would be eternally grateful and would ensure that I make you proud," she said. "I just want my life back."