Just weeks away from receiving her Master’s degree in counseling, 42 year old Christy Sims was viciously assaulted by her boyfriend with industrial sulfuric acid. Christy spent two months in a coma, underwent multiple reconstructive surgeries and today she lives to tell her story of overcoming!
Christy now sits on the board of directors for the Christy Sims Foundation, created to serve domestic violence victims by ‘educating the community, increasing awareness and raising funds to support victims of domestic violence.” Come join us as we hear more about Christy’s story, how she’s overcome great trials and how God is using her story to shed light on domestic violence around the world.
hey there I’m Priscilla Shire thank you
so much for joining us today on the chat
it is a treat to be here with you I
don’t know if you’ve ever had this
happened to you like it happened to me
that I was watching a television program
or maybe you heard a radio interview or
you just saw somebody from afar whose
story was so moving that mattered so
much whose story was so gripping maybe
by what you the traces of it the scars
of it that you saw on them it really
impacted you in a way that stayed with
you long after that interview was over
or long after that conversation was over
it just kind of hung with you in your
heart and in your mind that happened to
me and it happened fairly recently and
right away I started putting as many
things in motion as I could to be able
to sit down with this guest myself
because I wanted to meet her her story
is one of absolute tragedy but one
really that has a lot of beauty that
rises out of these ashes you’re going to
want to stay tuned today because you’re
going to want to meet Christie Sims I’m
going to let you hear her story I’m
gonna let you see some photos and I’m
going to let you hear a 9-1-1 call that
really sets in motion a course of events
that is going to stick with you for a
long time stay tuned
I was sitting on my sofa at home
watching a woman being interviewed on a
talk show and I was riveted I was
riveted for many reasons but also
because when I looked at her I saw
strength
I saw courage I saw a woman who was sure
of herself and had a lot going for her
but I also saw a woman who in the course
of a day her entire life completely
changed because of domestic violence
listen to this is he bleeding from
anywhere what Itachi’s complain okay
okay just one second under get poison
control on the line – okay I’m going to
get poison control on the line hold on a
second I have been looking so forward to
meeting this woman I know all of you are
going to enjoy meeting her as well would
you please help me to welcome Christie
Simms
cristy I’ve been waiting to meet you and
I’ve been waiting to meet you and I’m so
glad to lay eyes on you you are
beautiful
thank you you’re a beautiful woman and
you have a story to tell I do you do
okay we just you know it’s very obvious
when someone looks at you today
you look different than you did two and
a half years ago I do so tell us just in
a nutshell at first just tell us what
happened that caused this physical
change in your life really that has
changed the trajectory of your entire
life because of it what happened I made
the decision I was in a relationship
with a guy for a few years and I decided
I did not want to marry him and I
started backing away from the
relationship and he sensed it and on
April 28 2013 he called me to the
bathroom in our house he had been there
with me that weekend and before I could
even get into the bathroom he was right
in front of me he doubts he doubts had a
bowl in his hand and he doused me with
them what I found out later was
industrial grates of uric acid it’s what
people use all over the world to
disfigure and dis fame on people’s faces
so was there anything that was happening
in your relationship leading up to this
that would have given you an inkling
that this was something he could do
there were signs there were warning
signs in retrospect to be honest with
you my back in a way had a lot to do
with the fact that my children didn’t
like the sky they just would never warm
up to him and I had made a decision you
know what I can’t marry got it my kids
that you know there’s nothing there and
he just became more and more possessive
and controlling to the point where was
making me miserable so what did that
look like what did controlling and
possessive look like in a specific way
going through my personal things
crossing boundaries he would go through
my phone you know find ways into my to
my locked phone and then drilled me
about what’s in my father my personal
phone this is the guy that wasn’t my
husband that didn’t live with me he
would find ways into my computer
you know started accusing me of things
that you know just not true you know
very jealous very possessive I worked in
an all-male environment and he had a
problem with that you know so just
things that I did not do to him and I
didn’t I feel comfortable with him doing
to me you know he made me feel very
unfree I felt like I had to check in all
the time
and if I was missing for free hours he
would have called me a million times
during that time you know these are all
signs of abuse and to be honest with you
this guy was pretty much that way
throughout the relationship but I became
more cognitive of it as I started to
study human behavior as I became more
aware of myself because you were
studying to be a counselor so you were
already in your master’s degree program
yeah I finished my master’s degree on
about 6 months before this happened ok
he did this about 12 days before I was
supposed to graduate a lot of people say
she was pursuing her master’s way I was
already working as a counselor I was
already helping people and I had already
earned my master’s degree but I’m the
first one woman in my family to get a
master’s degree so I want to go back and
walk you know at 42 years old I wanted
to wear the cap and gown that’s right so
and he knew that and he knew how
important that was to me and I think
that that milestone which was a great
thing in my life I think it felt like it
was a letter away from him to him you
know do you feel like he felt like it
was he needed to go out of his way to
kind of keep you in check to when
there’s things to celebrate in your life
where you’re going up that he needs to
be the one to sort of kind of keep you
down this is a guy that didn’t finish
high school you know he was you know he
owned businesses and things like that
but didn’t value education the way that
I valued education and always kind of
how do you put it reduce the fact that I
was an educated woman who went in
retrospect I think it was because you
know he felt inadequate in that area
yeah and secure in that area so ok so
let’s go back to that day I want to know
about what were you doing what was
happening what was your countenance like
beef
or this happen so in the in that just
what take us through that particular day
up until the time when this happened to
you I woke up about 10 o’clock that
morning and I just woke up with this
excitement you know I had this if you
can imagine I was 42 years old I had
just finished a really tough master’s
program I was working in a job that
absolutely loved my kids were happy I
had survived that whole divorce storm
and I was just happy I was looking good
I was thin and cute and you know I just
had this one problem this guy in my life
that was making me feel um uncomfortable
that’s the best way I can describe it
did he was their friend or family know
that this guy was now making you feel
uncomfortable I had conversations with
my friends but to be honest with you
it’s a it’s very complicated you know
the cycle of abuse is very interesting
because this guy was you know he would
be controlling but he’d also be this guy
that brought me flowers and so he was
slick yeah and told me love me a million
times a day but but he got more to be
honest with you he got sweeter as he
felt me pulling away and when I think
about it now it’s because he held on
tighter as I was moving away because he
could fill it he could sense it you know
that that stuff those games that he
played all along they were just not
working anymore you know so you’re
feeling good that day feeling great that
day just happy just like when I can when
I tell you literally bouncing off the
walls i bouncing off the walls I’m like
yeah you know I’m gonna be graduating
next week you know had accomplished so
many goals I wanted to make some make
some promises to my children I was gonna
travel with them you know there were ten
and thirteen at the time and I said soon
as mommy finishes grad school we’re
gonna travel we’re gonna do some things
gonna have some fun cuz you know for two
years I was working during the day going
to school at night and I missed a lot of
stuff I miss basketball games and a lot
of things and so I just promised my said
so I’m never gonna miss another
basketball game I’m never gonna and so
when this happened you know right before
this happened I was just excited about
being able to do those things that I had
put on hold for two years and it’s
almost as if I remember the look on his
face that morning and it was still no
indication that I was in danger he just
saw how happy I was and when I in which
is that when I think about mine
how happy I was it’s almost as if my
happiness caused him a problem right
like my luck he was blinded by my light
that day or something you know that’s
life over the edge is that like what
you’re too happy but you’re just too
happy you know and that’s the last thing
I remember I remember being extremely
happy at two o’clock I was blissfully
happy and at 2:30 I was in misery in
complete misery burning alive is that
what it feels like to have acid thrown
on you yeah it feels like I’ve never
been in a fire before but from what I
understand acid is worse than getting
the fire because it burns even once
you’re rinse it continues to burn
through the cells of your body I
continue to burn for days even in the
hospital my face continued to change its
composition and so acid you know this is
not just a case of domestic violence
this is an acid attack something that’s
a global issue and it is now described
as attack is now described as the most
inhumane act against mankind
that’s how horrible it is how were you
able to make a 911 he made an eye on one
call he made the night on one call I
begged him to call 9-1-1 and on the nine
one one tape they’re telling him six
times to rinse me off and he comes over
to me and stands over me and tells me
babe they said not to rinse you off now
mind you I didn’t know what it was I
don’t know that was severe caster I
don’t know what it was I just knew was
burning me and I said what are you
talking about I’m on fire here I need
water
this is nobody that you said just sit
here just his calm he’s calling me baby
the whole time this is calm no baby they
said just to sit here how long were you
there
how about 13 minutes burning before help
arrived
sulfuric acid is used to melt metal and
he’d do it in my eyes I was blind for
four months the first four months it’s a
miracle
by God’s grace and mercy then I’m
hearing that I can see you know so other
than the scars that we can see on how
much of your body 20%
arms full arms my entire chest down to
here my entire neck has been replaced my
entire face has been reconstructed these
are not my original cheeks this is not
my original chain this is not my
original neck my eyelids were sewn on
how many surgeries I’ve had 13 total
that first few days they took all of the
skin from my from the back in front of
my thighs to repair my chest in my arms
and if they did a few grafts on my face
and then when I left the hospital you
know you have to wait when you’re burned
like this you have to wait a whole year
for them to work on your face that has
to mature so I had to literally live
behind a veil for a whole year before
they could even do anything to my face
at all when you say live behind a veil
do you mean literally fabric over your
face my face was so disturbing
so unrecognizable that I couldn’t go out
in public my first few media interviews
I did failed or either either in shadow
and people to this I mean and now they
understand cuz now I’ve started to
release pictures of what I some of the
pics what I look like in the beginning
but I could not release pictures of what
I look like and I could not put that out
there in the world because my children
was still adjusting to the fact that
their mother had changed and I couldn’t
have those pictures on the Internet
so every interview that I did in the
very beginning I had to do with our
sunglasses and veiled as a social
responsibility that’s just how
disfigured I was until I was able to
have some facial surgeries how did you
see yourself for the very first time
what was it like when you and how long
after the attack was it when you saw
yourself because you were in a coma for
what two months two months yeah I woke
up I went into the coma probably around
a 30th of April 2013 I woke up around
the end of June
mid to in July can’t remember the date
exactly and within two days of coming
out of the coma I was in a burn unit at
Grady and I know if you can imagine what
that’s like but everybody in there is
just a very depressive type thing
and I was sleep for the whole time I was
there but when you wake up you don’t
want to stay that much longer and so my
surgeon thought it would be best that
I’ve been moved to rehab when you wake
up from a coma the misconception is that
you can just get up and walk around no I
had to learn how to use my arms again I
had to learn how to walk again so they
sent me to rehab at Emory hospital
hospital in Atlanta
another great hospital in Atlanta and
during my time at rehab there was a
nurse who did not get the instructions
that my family did not want me to see my
face now my I still didn’t have my
vision I was still legally blind at that
time but I could see enough to know that
that was not the person who I was before
and so I you know of course I went into
a depression
now the blessing is you know God is
merciful is that I didn’t have my full
vision so the first time I saw myself I
didn’t have my full vision so I didn’t
realize how I looked until a couple of
months later so you can imagine I’m
existing knowing that I’m not the same
but didn’t I have full clarity and – a
couple months later – my eyesight
started to come back which is a miracle
you’re saying you’re kind of grateful
I’m grateful you’re grateful then great
and see the full yeah that sounds crazy
I’m grateful for that coma because that
coma allowed me to not be an agony I’m
grateful for the fact that I didn’t have
my full vision because I would have lost
my mind if I saw what I look like coming
out of that coma you know what I mean
and so over time we prayed and we pray
and we pray and my vision came back
around all because I’m still not I still
don’t have full vision in my right eye
my corneas damaged but you know I can
see everybody in here pretty well and
that is when it hit me
I’d already had probably about four
interviews when I was able to see myself
clearly for the first time my daughter
has seen me one time and I felt so
guilty after seeing myself knowing that
she had seen that my kids had seen that
and I want to know about that how was it
what was the connection like with your
children the first few times they’re
coming in contact with their new mom
yeah
hi I’m Priscilla and I wanted to take an
opportunity to invite you personally to
join me for a seventh session Bible
study on the armor of God will dive
deeply into what it means to be equipped
to stand firm against the schemes of the
enemy he is very real and he has been so
strategic and targeted his attacks
against us why shouldn’t we be equally
strategic and targeted in standing firm
against him and you and I have an
opportunity to suit up to put on some
armor that works and to go to battle and
to see victory declared in our lives in
the lives of those people that we learn
this Bible study will be one that will
change our lives forever and will help
us to walk in victory so plan to join me
won’t you the armor of God
how was it what was the connection like
with your children the first few times
they’re coming in contact with their new
mom yeah
my son believe it or not he he handled
it extremely well he told me later that
that was the only time he’s cried he’s
not a crier
he says mom the only time I’ve ever
cried was after I saw you for the first
time he came in he was so brave you know
that dad and I guess he was trying to
keep him uplifted so he didn’t tell him
how bad it was he’s I really wish dad
had told me how bad this was you know
later this is in retrospect but when he
saw me at the hospital he saw me at
rehab and he saw me sitting there you
know just a hot mess you know like I
said at that time my vision wasn’t
completely back so I didn’t even know
how bad I wasn’t he saw me my daughter
saw me when I got out of rehab she saw
me when I got home and I was I was
starting to get my vision back but I
still it was not until I had my first I
had a surgery for my eyes that made my
vision a little bit better that I was
able to see my face and see what my
children had seen and I just broke down
in tears because I said to myself they
saw this they saw this you know and they
were that was hard doesn’t change you
still wanted to protect your kids and
there was that brave you know I couldn’t
see my daughter for a while though she’s
very emotional and she you know my son
would come over cuz I couldn’t even go
home I couldn’t go home I couldn’t go
home because my ex-husband literally
moved into my house and he took over my
duties in my house because I couldn’t
well I was just learning how to walk and
couldn’t really take care of myself
couldn’t go home and so my son would
come to me and he would spend you know a
couple days at me at a time but I
couldn’t spend that type of time with my
daughter we were so close and that was
the hardest part of this whole this
whole journey was that time away from my
children how has this changed you the
external scars are obvious but what
other physical are there any other
physical things that were damaged that
are not necessarily that what we can see
but ways your life is now altered
physically because of what happened I
don’t have comfort anymore like sitting
here and I talk about this all the time
people understand this but burn skin
does not have electricity or moisture my
skin does not generate moisture and it
doesn’t stretch so I can feel every
movement every time I open my mouth I
can feel myself talking every time I
move my neck I can feel my neck because
my whole face has been grafted so for
the rest of my life this doesn’t go away
because it will never stretch it doesn’t
stretch so it’s just a physical it’s not
a pain it’s just a physical knowing that
my skin is there I can feel my skin do
you feel like yourself do you feel like
the same woman that was about to put on
the cap and gown beautiful and you still
are by the way I hope you know that I
hope you see what we see
as we look at you I’m getting say a
woman of strength of confidence of
beauty of poise you do you all agree
with me we see so much beauty when we
look at you and I hope that you see that
as well girl because listen the fact
that you can sit here and talk about
what you’re grateful for you have said
gratitude or grateful at least three or
four times in these few minutes we’ve
been talking and the fact that you can
do that speaks so much to the kind of
woman that you are
I walk daily with an attitude of
gratitude and people always ask me how
do you get through this how do you get
through this because I find in
everything that’s wrong I find something
that’s right like I don’t have
elasticity in my skin but guess what I
won’t ever wrinkle
at 90 years old my skin will look just
like this in God good bye seriously it’s
crazy as it is it must but my skin won’t
stretch like every other everyone else
we look I hope y’all realize they have
absolutely no excuse and I have our
lives to ever not you know find
something to be grateful for in the
midst of whatever’s going on in our life
Pete you would have to know people get
bits and pieces of my journey but you
would have to know all those sleepless
nights and all those days in isolation
you would have to know my full story to
know why give God so much glory that’s
not a whole the back story the back
story yes and that’s true for all of us
it’s like you don’t know what one of the
Lord has brought me you don’t send me
out one TV and they oh they feel so bad
from but they just don’t know how bad
this was this was it was bad so you’ve
come a long way I’ve come a long way how
was your mother I saw your mother on the
interview that I watched and I saw this
woman of so much grace and poise I could
see the Spirit of God on her and in her
how has your mother been a blessing and
a help to you through this and how is
she doing cuz you’re her baby so how’s
this for her my mother um how do I
describe my mother she is a definition
of holy see I am approaching holiness I
have great potential for holiness I’m
not quite there yet I’m working on it
God is doing a work at your he’s gonna
work in me my mother is there my mother
has enough faith to carry me on the days
when I feel weak my mother is the one
that played gospel music in my room 24
hours a day for two months my mother is
the one that stayed by my bedside for 10
to 12 hours a day sometimes more my
mother is the one that whispered in my
ear every single day greater is coming
baby don’t give up greater is coming my
mother is the one that wouldn’t I let
them graph the bottom half of my leg
because she knows that I’m a sassy girl
and I love wearing dresses
and she said don’t touch to leave her
something to make her feel like a woman
and so normally I would be wearing a
dress and people went away you were just
so much it’s because my mother did that
for me my mother is the one that told
the doctors when they told her she would
never see again
she said the devil is a lot she will see
again and I did see again so my mother
is that quiet strength that person that
takes care of me that person who loves
her husband my stepfather died during
this process a year ago she’s dealing
with taking care of her baby and in her
husband who passed away of cancer and so
I feel a little bit of guilt about that
she spent the entire year of his life
taking care of me the tire last year of
her his life that she could have been
with her husband taking care of me so I
feel some type of way about that you
know you shouldn’t because that’s
exactly where your mom wanted to be
exactly but he stick around you’d have
to know him too he stayed around just
long enough to see me out of the
hospital up walking around again and so
so the readjustment do you feel it’s
been two years now has it been over two
years or just at two years it’s been
about two and a half right do you feel
some sense of normalcy now or do you
feel like that you don’t ever think
you’re going to find on normalcy that
it’s just going to be a brand new
experience altogether that you have to
map out for yourself and for your
children exactly I’m glad you say that
because that’s what people and people
all have this tendency to so you’re
still the same Krista you’re still the
same Christy is it is an insult to my
journey to say that I’m the same Christy
I don’t want to be the same Christy you
can’t be the same person after all that
I’ve been through so what I’m striving
for now and back up back up girl back up
did y’all hear that she said it is an
insult to my journey you know it is to
say that I’m the same person that I was
exactly if you’re tweeting stuff you
need to tweet that right there that’s so
good because your heart
it makes us different what we’ve been
through what the Lord has allowed us to
go through for reasons we will never
understand why he allows certain things
to happen in our life but as we see
fingerprints of His grace and his love
and His goodness it does reshape us it
does in two entirely different people it
does and this has been some I’ve been in
the wilderness and this past two years
has been some biblical I’ve had some
biblical experiences this is a biblical
experience to be honest with you it is
surreal because this time two years ago
where I was what I look like I would
have thought this would be an
impossibility and so that’s how I know
when I have these experiences I’m like
you know what god I see you I see you
because I’m just not supposed to be here
first of all they said I wouldn’t live
and if I live they said I would I
wouldn’t be able to see so not only am I
seeing I’m sitting here with priscilla
shirer I mean come on it’s biblical well
and you know what else is biblical
what’s what what shows signs of God’s
hand in tragedy is when we come out of
it and we see the trajectory of our
course change in such a way that he’s
going to get so much glory out of the
direction that the tragedy took our life
it’s not that we’re thanking him for the
tragedy it’s that we can be grateful
that he can work all things together for
the good of them that love him and are
called according to his purpose so to me
I see the fingerprints of God in that
the enemy might have wanted to shut you
up but here you are sitting not only on
this sofa but on many others you have
been on telling your story and you’re so
careful to give praise to the Lord
through the story it is such a testimony
and have you seen the course of your
life what what you were passionate about
what you wanted to do the direction you
were going in anyway have you seen all
of that so turned in a completely
different direction that you otherwise
never would have taken when this
happened to me I was a mental health HIV
and substance abuse counselor and I was
counseling all men I was helping guys
coming out
the correctional facilities and homeless
guys I was helping them get off drugs I
was helping them on a like I would
council a group of ten guys and I’ll be
and they will be sitting on the edge of
their seats listening to me my little
five to self never been on drugs before
but they would be on the edge of their
seats listening to me
and I was I was really helping these
guys transform their lives I saw a lot
of guys put drugs down go back to their
families and everything and I saw this
as a result of the work that I did with
them and I believe that God said you
know what she can handle that so she can
handle even more I’m going to give her
even more I don’t know why I had to go
through so much physical emotional just
mental pain to get to where I am now but
God’s ways are not our ways and I know
that God didn’t cause this I know that
he allowed this cuz he is all-powerful
but he had nothing to do with this you
know I mean he had nothing to do with
this he allowed this because he knew
what I would do with it he knew what I
was here you are and I made a promise I
made a promise to God while I was lying
in a coma I said God if you just let me
wake up I don’t care what I look like if
you just let me wake up now this is
while you’re in a coma I was actually I
had consciousness while I was in a coma
so you you have conscious thought memory
right now around time when you me and
God we had all countertops when you line
in a coma you can’t talk to nobody but
God so you’re aware of people around you
you’re aware a voice is your favorite
was my mother claim my mother played
music for me 24 hours a day not knowing
that I could hear I woke up from a coma
two months later and I knew every song
on the radio
word for word word for every gospel song
she kept the spirit of God she kept
tossing you in my ear 24 hours day not
even knowing that I can hear I can hear
every single word and I can hear every
single prayer every single prayer and in
that coma I said God just let me wake up
don’t let my children be a motherless
children I just want to wake up and
raise my kids and if you let me wake up
I will glorify you publicly publicly not
in private publicly for the rest of my
life he continues to put me in public
forums all the time because I
of denial I never did I have because I
kept because he kept his promise and I
kept mine and now your mission one of
your many probably is to speak to the
heart of women that could be in this
exact same position and maybe don’t even
see it clearly they don’t even know
what’s coming down the track like me I
was in a cycle of abuse you know we put
domestic violence into this box a man’s
punching on a woman she’s walking around
with black eyes mm-hmm yes that wasn’t
the case for me this guy didn’t have
financial control over me but he did
have control over me he had control over
me he had me checking in and I didn’t
know I was checking in he had trained me
too if I was going somewhere to call him
because I knew if I didn’t Khan was
gonna be an argument that’s control yeah
he had me if I went to the gas station a
pump I guess he had a problem he going
to the gas station to pump my gas
because he was afraid I might see
another guy and the guy might want to
pump my gas and be attracted to me
mm-hmm
Home Depot anywhere with me and frequent
it it was a problem that’s abuse doesn’t
that’s anytime you make somebody feel
uncomfortable in their own space in
their own it’s abuse so yes we want to
talk about your foundation we want to
talk about where you’re going what your
future looks like the trajectory the
path the brand-new path that you are now
on what that looks like and the message
we can share to lift somebody who finds
themselves in a similar situation that
you were in so listen this is just part
one of my conversation with Christy
Simms you are going to want to make sure
you stay tuned because in our part 2
we’re going to talk more with her you
see such strength from this woman I most
certainly do
we’re sitting here getting a lesson in
having faith and walking by faith and
not by sight and so I love the fact that
you are here my friend would you guys
please help me thank Christy sir