The Will to Live

When Charla awoke in the hospital after the attack, she says she couldn't at first understand what had happened to her. "I do remember I kept saying that, 'Well, one of these days I'm going to see.' And then the doctors said, 'No, you're never going to see again,' and I'm like: 'Well, I don't know. They don't know what they're talking about,'" Charla says. "But the eye doctor came in a couple weeks ago and said that it's a shame they had to remove my eyes, and that's when I really knew."

Despite her extensive injuries, Charla says she is not in any pain. She wears a veil in front of her face daily, but more for the sake of others than herself. "[I wear it] so I don't scare people," she says. "Sometimes other people might insult you, so I figure maybe it's easier if I just walk around covered up." 

For the first time in public, Charla agrees to lift her veil. She has been keeping her face secret because she knows the tabloids having been angling for a picture of her. There has even been an armed guard posted outside Charla's door to protect her privacy from anyone who might want to photograph her. However, Charla says she isn't really worried about the public reaction to the destruction that has occurred to her face. "People are going to say what they're going to say," she says. "I need to move forward and get better and stronger."