One moment, model Juanita Jimenez was getting off the train in Brooklyn to head to work like any other evening. The next, her skin was ‘deteriorating.’

Jimenez, now 24, had acid thrown in her face by a stranger in a random and ‘unprovoked’ attack in December 2022.

It left her with horrific third-degree burns and she has since had to undergo 10 surgeries to try to undo the damage.

But what’s worse is the impact it’s had on her mental health, with her still suffering from PTSD from it to this day.

She spoke exclusively with the Daily Mail about it, explaining that she was on her way to work at Kings County Hospital when she noticed a woman arguing with some men on the train.

‘It was my stop for work so I got off the train, (but) I noticed (the woman) got off as well behind me,’ she explained.

‘It was only her and I in the platform so I had an unsafe gut feeling.’

Suddenly, the woman threw a strange substance in her face, which Jimenez said caused ‘the most excruciating pain she had ever felt in her life.’

‘Immediately after she threw the corrosive substance in my face, she ran before I could even open my eyes,’ she recalled.

Jimenez, who in addition to being a part-time model was working in the medical field, said she thankfully had some knowledge of what to do in a situation like that.

She continuously spit to avoid swallowing any of the substance and rinsed her face for 15 minutes straight. But immense damage had already been done.

‘It burned through every particle of clothing I wore that day. My mask, my scarf, my hoodie, my coat, my pants, shoes, and my face and chin,’ she said.

She rushed herself to the hospital where she worked, which was thankfully nearby, and soon learned that the substance had been sulfuric acid, a highly corrosive acid often uses in explosives.

‘I had both second and third degree burns on my face, chin and my hand,’ she shared.

Soon began a lengthy recovery process that would take years and involve 10 different surgeries.

She said her lip and nose ‘contracted together due to the tightening of the skin after the burn, causing a visible deformity on her face.’

‘A part of my nostril also had to be removed because it deteriorated due to the third degree burn, so I had difficulty breathing,’ she added.

Her cheek also developed keloid, which is when irregular tissue forms at the site of a scar or injury.

In addition to her physical injuries, her mental health was greatly impacted following the attack.

‘I was chronically depressed and anxious, and my PTSD was at an all time high for about eight months (afterwards),’ Jimenez told the Daily Mail.

She said it took a while for her to even feel comfortable going outside, adding that the incident also shattered her self esteem and negatively impacted her modeling career.

She said her confidence has finally started to return three years on thanks to her latest surgeries, which removed the keloids, fixed her lip deformity and opened her nostril for better breathing.

‘I am just now starting to feel confident and powerful in front of a camera again because for the past few years, I didn’t even want to walk in a room where a camera might be,’ she said.

‘But thankfully now that I feel more confident, I am back modeling again, spreading awareness for mental health, skin care and beauty scars.

‘I’m still adjusting to this day, but my TikTok and Instagram family has genuinely helped me push forward and be confident.’

She vowed that she’s ‘doing much better now,’ but admitted that she still gets ‘triggered’ by certain activities.

‘I struggle cooking some foods because the heat triggers my PTSD sporadically,’ Jimenez, who graduated from college last year, shared.

‘Of course there’s still triggers and feelings that I’m still working on overcoming with my therapist.

‘However, I am so proud of myself for pushing through after the attack and graduating as the scientist I’ve always dreamed of becoming. Next stop, MD.’