Malaysian footballer ‘recovering well’ after acid attack

A Malaysian footballer who was severely burnt in an acid attack is recovering well, his club said on Wednesday.

Earlier this month Faisal Halim, a top footballer in the Malaysian Super League and winger for the national team, suffered burns to his neck, shoulder, hands and chest after he was attacked with acid at a shopping mall outside Kuala Lumpur.

A senior official at Selangor FC, Shahril Baharim, said on Wednesday that Mr Faisal, 26, is recovering well and will be back as early as August.

“I was told that with this progress, there is a big possibility that he will be back (on the pitch) by three to six months. This is based on what the doctors told me; the faster the better, that’s our hope,” he said during a press conference.

“His recovery is very, very good. I was told that the skin grafting can only cover 70 per cent of the wounded area, but it was a miracle that he managed to get 100 per cent.”

Mr Faisal had a successful three-hour skin allograft surgery on 20 May, which was successful, according to the team doctor Muhammad Hazwan Khair.

Mr Baharim also announced that a less invasive surgical procedure will be conducted on 23 May.

“The doctors will observe Faisal’s condition tomorrow to determine if he can be discharged in the next few days,” he said.

Selangor FC withdrew from their season-opening Charity Shield match against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) due to safety concerns following a series of attacks on players in Malaysia earlier this month.

Besides the attack on Mr Halim which left him in critical condition after being splashed with acid, JDT’s Safiq Rahim had his car windscreen smashed by unknown assailants, while national team player Akhyar Rashid was injured in a robbery outside his home.