Acid attack survivor Reshma Qureshi walked the runway at NYFW and it was totally inspiring
BRB, crying all the tears right now. Reshma Qureshi, a stunning (and unbelievably courageous) teenager from India just totally triumphed after living through an experience that was nothing short of tragic. Qureshi was brutally attacked two years ago, when acid was thrown in her face by a family relative. She defied the odds and survived the attack that left her blind in eye and facially disfigured, but the inspirational young woman wasn’t about to let the attack define her.
The 19-year-old made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week, and even just seeing photos of her walk gave us chills in the best possible way.
“I feel really good about walking in fashion week because I feel I’m not just doing this for myself,” she told People.
“I feel I’m doing this for the acid attack survivors that there are and to give them confidence. I’m very excited to have this opportunity. People have the tendency to look at acid attack survivors from one perspective and I don’t want them to look at them like that anymore.”
Last year, Qureshi filmed a makeup tutorial to help raise awareness about the issue of acid attacks on women in India. “See how easy it is to get rid of dark spots?” she said in the video. “As easy as scarring someone’s face with acid. Just open the bottle and throw.”
After getting a glimpse at Qureshi’s amazing runway moment, it’s safe to say we’ll never look at acid attack survivors as victims again.
This may have been Qureshi’s first fashion show, but it wasn’t her first foray into the public eye: She also films YouTube videos (check out her reaction when she learned she’d be walking in NYFW if you want to feel all the feels).
