Acid attack doctor’s sister launches fundraiser to pay for her treatment

The sister of a junior doctor who had acid thrown in her face by her deranged ex has launched a fundraising appeal to help pay for her treatment.

Rym Alaoui was disfigured when Milad Rouf, 25, threw sulphuric acid in her face on the doorstep of her home in Steine GArdens in May.

Rouf, who had disguised himself as a woman, was sentenced to 11 years in prison last month at Lewes Crown Court.

Today, her sister Alya Alaoui re-launched a GoFundMe page and revealed her injuries have turned out to be more serious than first thought.

She said: “I first opened this page on the day after the attack and closed itfive5 days afterwards. We were incredibly thankful, as a family, for the £2,000 that was raised. We were hopeful that this would be sufficient.

“However, six months on, we have a clearer view of Rym’s current and future medical requirements which is why I am opening a donation page again.

“Her injuries have turned out to be more serious than we expected at the time, and the full treatment unfortunately cannot be offered only by the NHS.

“Rym has suffered severe injuries to her face, neck, chest and arms. She’s still unable to see out of her right eye. So far, she’s had seven operations including skin grafts to her neck and chest, and operations to her eye.

“Her doctors have said that she’ll need many more over the coming months and years. The cost of this all is estimated to be over £60,000. This includes a reconstruction of her neck, specialised laser therapy for scarring and surgical needling.

“I appreciate this is a really large sum of money, and I would be eternally grateful for anything you could give to help.

“Rym’s modest savings, having been an NHS junior doctor for only 10 months after her graduation, have been depleted. Our parents have been the only financial support and continue to cover her medical needs and domestic expenses.

“However, as a family, our funds are running low and we would really appreciate any help that we could get to give my sister her life back.

“Rym has always worked extremely hard to fulfil her dream to be a doctor and help people. Everyone who knows her knows how genuinely kind, loving and caring she is. We want to give her every chance to get back to a normal life and continue with her work.”