Local

Man charged with throwing chemical in woman's face, disfiguring her

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A Henry County grand jury has indicted a man on charges that he threw liquid drain opener into a woman's face, permanently disfiguring her.

Andrew Fordham has been charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and burglary.

Christy Sims, 43, said her then-boyfriend asked her to bring a towel to the bathroom. She said she saw water on the floor and the man holding a small bowl with a strange liquid. She feared something was about to happen.

"He didn't actually fall, he just jerked forward and took the bowl and doused it in my face," Sims said.

The chemical was Clean Shot, a drain cleaner which is a caustic sulfuric acid. It splashed over her face, chest and arms.

"I ran immediately to the sink and started rinsing my face off and I yelled to him, 'Please call 911, please call 911," Sims said.
Fordham told the operator Christy had been accidentally splashed with drain cleaner.

"I found out later, 911 poison control told him to rinse me off and I kept telling him please, my skin," Sims told Channel 2's Tom Regan. "He said, they said to sit down and wait for the ambulance because if you rinse yourself off, you're going to ignite the chemical."

When paramedics finally got to Sims, they stripped her clothes off and hosed her down. But, by then the damage was done.

In the traumatic moments afterwards she said her boyfriend had told her that it was an accident. She believes it was an intentional acid attack, because he knew she was about to leave him.