I was forced to hide away for years with angry sores on my face – strangers labelled me an ‘acid attack victim’
A WOMAN whose face and body was left scarred for life by angry sores, caused by Lupus, has become a diversity model.
For ten years, Mikki Leigh, 34, suffered from the auto-immune disease, which sees the immune system attack the tissues and organs in the body.
Cruelly, she was labelled an ‘acid attack and dog mauling victim’ by strangers.
But for the last two years, Mikki has been in remission from the disease thanks to a 'wonder drug'.
The trainee accountant, from Sheffield, has since appeared in modelling campaigns and now wants to raise awareness of the illness for other sufferers.
Mikki said: “I used to hide away from society and not want to be seen, but now I’m embracing my scars and want to challenge the beauty standards.
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“Everyone is beautiful, no matter what they look like.”
In 2013, when Mikki was 24, she woke up one day with a butterfly rash on her face, which stretched across her eyes and the bridge of her nose.
In just a few days, it’d spread to her back.
Soon, she developed raised, red sores.
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Mikki visited her GP who thought it was an allergic reaction to a necklace she was wearing, which was nickel based.
She was prescribed antihistamine cream.
But after the sores continued to spread, she returned to her doctor.
She says: “They thought it was psoriasis, so prescribed another topical cream.
“After a month, nothing had worked and the sores covered the whole of my upper body and face.
“By this point, the lesions were open and were burning and itching.
“It hurt to lie down. I was in agony.”
At the beginning of 2014, after a year of mis-diagnosis, Mikki was referred to a dermatologist at Rotherham General Hospital where they took a biopsy.
Two weeks later she was diagnosed with Lupus.
Mikki says: “I was told there was no cure, but that there were drugs that could halt the disease.
“I was desperate to get better.”
What are the symptoms of lupus?
See a GP if you often get:
- joint and muscle pain
- extreme tiredness that will not go away no matter how much you rest
- rashes – often over the nose and cheeks
These are the main symptoms of lupus.
You might also have:
- headaches
- mouth sores
- high temperature
- hair loss
- sensitivity to light (causing rashes on uncovered skin)
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For three years, Mikki tried over ten different treatments, including an anti-malarial drug, but nothing worked and she continued developing angry sores on her face and body.
By this point, Mikki was suffering hair loss and her self esteem had plummeted.
Meanwhile, she’d receive insensitive comments from drunk people while on nights out.
She says: "People would stare and point, asking if I’d been attacked by a dog, or was a victim of an acid attack. I’d try and explain it was a condition but they wouldn’t understand."
One night, in 2016, a man caused her to cry, after pointing at her face and repeatedly asking her why she ‘looked like that’.
Mikki says: “He just wouldn’t leave it and wanted me to explain why I had sores on my face.
“I tried to explain I had Lupus but he just kept on asking questions and staring at me.
“It made me so uncomfortable.
“Eventually, I stopped going out altogether and became a recluse.
“My dating life was non-existent. I had no self-confidence and was miserable.”
It wasn’t until January 2021 that Mikki was prescribed a ‘wonder drug’, similar to that given to patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Within six months, most of the sores had cleared up and, although she was left with scars, Mikki stopped developing new lesions.
The disease had been halted and she was in remission.
Mikki says: “The results were incredible. I was left with scarring but no new sores were appearing.
"It was amazing.”
In July that year, Mikki decided to help raise awareness of Lupus and signed to a modelling agency for diverse models.
Since then, she’s appeared in paid advertising campaigns, including a pharmaceutical company and accountancy firm.
She says: “I used to hate the way I look but now I look at my scars and feel beautiful.
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“I may look different, but I want other women (and men) to know, there isn’t a perfect beauty standard in the world.
“Thanks to women like Katie Piper and Winnie Harlow, I feel able to challenge this, while also helping to raise awareness of Lupus.”
