A Los Angeles woman said she has been suffering from PTSD for seven months after a man poured a bucket of hot diarrhoea over her head.

Heidi Van Tassel told KNBC TV that she was in her car on Hollywood Boulevard after eating Thai food when a man suddenly dragged her out of her vehicle and into the middle of the street.

The man then dumped a bucket of faeces on her head, she told KNBC TV.

“It was diarrhoea. Hot liquid. I was soaked, and it was coming off my eyelashes and into my eyes,” Van Tassel said. “Paramedics who came to treat me said there was so much of it on me, that it looked like the man was saving it up for a month.”

After the attack, Van Tassel went to a local hospital to be tested for infectious diseases that are caused by contact with faeces. She will return every three months for additional testing, KNBC TV reported.

Van Tassel said the PTSD she’s dealing with “is beyond anything that I’ve ever felt,” but she is also trying to be empathetic to the man accused of attacking her.

The man was charged with battery and taken to jail, KNBC TV reported, citing court records. A judge later sent him to a residential facility for people with mental health issues, the outlet said. He was released in August. 

“He doesn’t need jail time. He needs mental health care. I have empathy for him because he needs help,” she said.