Sisters of Chesco student attacked in France say alleged assailant 'needs prayer and help'

Megan Siverling was at work at Johns Hopkins Health System on Sunday morning when she glanced down at her phone and saw an email from her younger sister, Courtney, who was beginning her semester abroad in France.

"I'm OK," Courtney wrote, "Acid was thrown on us …"

"My heart kind of dropped at that moment," Megan Siverling said. "Because that was all the information I had."

Knowing there was nothing she could do from Baltimore, Megan began Googling. She saw news stories about the attack at a Marseille train station, some of which exaggerated what had happened and called the woman responsible a terrorist.

But that isn't how Courtney or her twin sisters, Megan Siverling and Danielle Curfman, both 24, want this story told. The Chester Springs natives are instead asking for prayers and forgiveness.

On Sunday, Courtney Siverling, 20, a junior at Boston College and 2015 graduate of Downingtown East High School, made national headlines when she posted her intention on Facebook, along with an update that said she was uninjured, and her friends were safe. French police said the woman responsible was mentally ill and that there was no link to terrorism.

"I pray that the attacker would be healed from her mental illness in the name of Jesus," Courtney said, "and receive the forgiveness and salvation that can only come from Him."

The act of grace did not surprise her sisters.

"I think that is exactly what I expected her to say," Curfman said. "Ever since she went to college, she has grown so much in her faith."

"She definitely has the ability to look at something and see where God is working," Megan Siverling said. The alleged attacker "is someone who needs prayer and help."

On Sunday morning, Boston College students Courtney Siverling, Charlotte Kaufman, Michelle Krug, and Kesley Kosten were at the train station when the 41-year-old woman allegedly sprayed them with acid. French authorities arrested the woman, saying they believe she was mentally ill and not motivated by extremist views.

All four students attacked were studying abroad; Courtney, a double major in international studies and French, was in the college's Paris program.

Courtney had arrived in Paris over Labor Day weekend and spent the last few weeks getting accustomed to the city and her host family, Megan Siverling said. This weekend, she and her friends had taken a trip to the French city of Marseille, about 400 miles south of Paris. Courtney was set to begin classes at the Paris-Sorbonne University on Monday, Curfman said.

Courtney Siverling told her sisters that security at the Saint Charles train station was tight, and even after the attack, the women immediately felt safe. Two of the students were hit in the eye with what one described as a "weak solution of hydrochloric acid." Courtney and her companions were treated at a hospital and released. On Sunday morning, she emailed her parents, Mary Beth and Curt, who were back home in Chester Springs, to tell them what had happened, Curfman said.

"Curt and I are just so grateful to God for protecting all of the girls involved," Mary Beth Siverling said via text, "and so grateful to family and friends for the outpouring and prayers and support."

A little while later, Curfman and Megan Siverling received another email from Courtney, who expressed some of the same themes she would later post about on Facebook: faith, compassion, and forgiveness.

Courtney Siverling grew up in a household with a strong faith, her sisters said, but that transformed at Boston College.

"I think she really owned it for herself when she went to college," said Curfman, a teacher in Raleigh, N.C.

Hope Dragelin, a friend and former roommate of Courtney Siverling's, revealed that freshman year, Siverling posted in a class Facebook page. She was looking for fellow Christian, non-Catholic students who were attending the Jesuit Catholic school near Boston and looking for a church buddy.

The two became fast friends, and Dragelin soon saw the personality traits in Siverling that were on display this weekend.

"I think her natural reaction is to show everybody forgiveness, no matter how big or small the damage done," Dragelin said. "She is one of the most caring people I know."

Janet Bright, the Downingtown East women's swim coach, coached all three Siverling sisters at East.

"It doesn't surprise me that [Courtney] would forgive and pray for the person who did this," Bright said. "It would surprise me if she didn't."

Bright said the Siverling family "walked the walk. You could tell Jesus shined through them."

On Monday evening, the Siverlings took comfort in knowing Courtney was back in Paris, exhausted but ready to start classes.

"All of us would love to be able to go over there and hug her," Megan Siverling said, but "she's safe over there."

Courtney Siverling has always been independent, her sisters said, and was drawn to Boston College in part for the study abroad program. She was excited to practice her French with a host family and to travel through Europe. Her parents already had planned a trip to visit Courtney later in the semester.

Will the attack change Courtney's excitement about being on her own in a foreign country?

Not at all, Megan Siverling said. "If anything, it will validate it."

Staff writers Joseph A. Gambardello and Linda Loyd contributed to this article, which includes information from the Associated Press.