A Renfrewshire councillor who was the victim of a horror glassing attack when he was just 15 years old is calling for greater support for people with facial scars.
Robert Innes was just a teenager when he was hit in the face with a pint glass after a disturbance in a pub spilled out onto the street. The horror attack left the then schoolboy with 27 stitches across his face and the inside of his mouth.
The representative for Houston, Crosslee and Linwood bravely admitted this week that the permanent scarring he was left with has had a lasting impact on his daily life.
Earlier this month, just days before the 21st anniversary of the attack on Boxing Day 2003, Robert called on Renfrewshire Council to become the first local authority in Scotland to work with charities and organisations to ensure specialist support is available to victims inflicted with a facial scar due to an assault.
He told the Paisley Daily Express: “Victims of permanent facial scarring suffer difficult and life-long trauma. People who suffer due to knife attacks or ‘slashing’ experience stigma and can be vilified in social and professional life due to their scarring.
“This issue means so much to me, as a victim of facial scarring due to an assault. It’s a difficult issue to talk about and I’m in a position that I can, so I have. I cannot be happier to see this motion receive cross-party support from my peers.
“I am keen to see the assistance and help this will provide for victims in their lives as Renfrewshire leads the way in shaping this specialist support for people who are discriminated against due to an assault they endured.
“Charities and organisations have been empathetic to this issue and have encouraged this move. I am keen to see collaborative work begin between the council and organisations and charities that provide support to victims.”
Explaining people often assumed his scar was the result of youth or gang violence, Robert says stereotyping and stigma dogged his earlier years.
In reality, he was innocently walking home when a thug wrongly thought he was involved in the pub fight in Bridge of Weir.
He said: “I ask people to ponder these questions. Have you ever been followed around a shop because you look dodgy?
“Have you ever gone to a job interview and been asked how you got your scar on your face? Have you ever looked in the mirror at your face every day and been reminded of an assault?
“Have you ever been speaking to someone and you see their eyes move away from contact with yours to have a peak at your face? Have your facial features ever been vilified in basically every role that depicts them? I could go on and on.
“Now, I’ve gone to see a GP about this issue years back, purely out of curiosity. I asked the doctor what support was available to me. I was told that I could perhaps wear make up or skin camouflage. I asked about scar reduction treatment or plastic surgery and was told that was not funded by our NHS for my circumstances.”
Robert sought out support on his own and found Changing Faces – a charity which supports people with a range of facial disfigurements as well as those with scarring. The charity offers emotional support and skin camouflage which seeks to hide scars, burns and the affects of rare diseases.
For Robert, though, more must also be done to educate the wider community to be more empathetic. He added: “People have lots of different problems and it’s hard to put yourself in somebody’s shoes at times.
“But empathy is a powerful weapon if you can use it correctly – or you can be judgemental and live life on a first impression basis.
“I like to choose the first way and if I can show people even a glimpse of what it feels like to have a scar on your face you would understand why this issue is so important.”
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