VANCOUVER, Wash. (CBS/KOIN) Bethany Storro has been a model of optimism ever since she was attacked with acid by a stranger on the street Aug. 30. Now it seems that optimism has paid off - she was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon, after spending a little over a week there.
Although doctors say her recovery is far from over they are allowing her to return to her Vancouver, Wash. home, about nine miles outside Portland. At a press conference Thursday Storro told reporters that she will not let the attack rule her life and again called it a "miracle" that she was wearing sunglasses during the attack, possibly saving her eyesight, according to CBS affiliate KOIN.
Her newly adopted community - Storro had recently moved to Oregon from Idaho and was celebrating a new job when she was attacked - has stepped up to support her recovery, with a fundraiser being held by the gym she belongs to and a recovery fund set up by her new employer, the Oregonian reported.
Anytime Fitness is planning a self-defense class for women Friday and plans to donate all the proceeds to a fund set up at Umpqua Bank a local bank. Storro's fellow Safeway employees have also set up a fund through 18 branches of Riverview Community Bank in Oregon and Washington State.
Police are still looking for the woman who approached Storro saying "Hey, pretty girl, you want a drink of this,'" before throwing what doctors have called "a very strong acid" on Storro's face. Storro describes her attacker as African American, about 5-feet-8-inches tall with black, pulled-back hair. She said the woman had earrings and was athletic and a "pretty girl."
If police do find her attacker, Storro said she would like to ask her "Why?" but in the meantime she says she will try to get on with her life.
"I can't let what she did to me wreck my life. That's not fair. [And] in time, I'm going to forgive her."
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Tuesday, September 7th 2010 at 3:40PM
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