Jewish Zanzibar Acid Attack Victim Recovers at Home; Friend Awaits Surgery
by Zach Pontz
One of the Jewish girls who was the victim of a horrific acid attack in Zanzibar last week is at home recovering following surgery, while the other still awaits an operation for the injuries she sustained, the London Evening Standard reported on Monday.
Kirstie Trup was discharged from the hospital Sunday night and returned to her family’s home in Hampstead, London. But her friend Katie Gee was set to undergo surgery after suffering burns on 80 per cent of her right arm and 50 per cent of her torso.
Two men on a moped threw acid at the two 18 year old girls last week on the mostly-Muslim island off the coast of east Africa, where they were spending three-weeks working for a Christian nursery. While the motive for the attack is yet unknown, friends of the pair told police that they may have been targeted because they were Jewish.
Both girls knew how to behave and dress appropriately so as not to offend the mainly Muslim island’s cultural traditions, according to Gee’s mother, Nicky. They also did not openly display their Jewish heritage, the parents said.
Trup’s father, Marc, said both girls were “struggling to come to terms” with their burns.
“The enormity of their ordeal is having a devastating effect on them, as is the extent of the injuries,” he added.