Help a Mother Recover and Care for Her Kids

I have driven for Lyft for less than 30 days. Before that, I drove for DoorDash. During the day (8:30am-5pm) I watched my children; who are 1 & 3 respectively. Their father and I are separated. After 5pm I would usually get something to eat and take a little break, and then get to work making my own income. I never intended on this being the plan. But hey, it worked. Yes, I was overly exhausted & yes I was probably not getting the fairest deal ever, but my kids got to spend all day with me, and I could afford to not depend on anyone else for once in my life. That all changed for me so quickly, I almost couldn’t believe it. On August 2nd, I almost lost my life. Late night door dashing can be slow, so I parked on the east side of Charleston somewhere to wait for an order to come through, when I was approached by a seemingly kind lightskin lady who asked me if I wouldn’t mind giving her and a friend a ride to the city park apartments for $10. I could tell right off the bat she was struggling, and I have been there myself, so against my better judgment I let her in my car, and proceeded to pick up her friend who was nearby. We stopped by a gas station (I went in as well), and this is where things went wrong. This girl was 10000% different before this stop, apparently the friend let me know she was shooting up k2. The girl decided she was going to hop in my drivers seat and drive. I jumped in the passenger seat as quick as I could before she took off, and her friend jumped in the back. My car is my livelihood, it is how I pay my bills and how I have the power to be independent. This woman was now driving my car close to 110mph down the highway swerving all over the place. As soon as she pulled off the south Charleston exit (near McDonald’s) I decided to take action, and i grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the window multiple times, screaming at her to get out of my car. I overtook her, and she fell out onto the road. Then I made the dumbest mistake of my life, and I keep thinking to myself how embarrassing it is to even admit… but I saw this woman in tears on the side of the road alone and I said “if you can calm down, I’m okay with taking you home? Can you do that?” Which she agreed to. And then she climbed into the backseat, directly behind me. I don’t really think I have to explain what happened next, but I will anyway. Basically at this point I knew I screwed up, and she was on the phone with her boyfriend whispering something in the backseat, so I knew whatever was coming was going to be bad. I drove them to the city park apartments (first building), unlocked the doors, and then felt the pain in my arm. I had no idea what hit me, all the thoughts in my brain just stopped and the pain spiked higher than I’ve ever experienced. The two girls then hopped out of the car and fled into the building and I whipped my car around in a frenzy trying to get out of there. All I could think of was my kids. My babies. I had even shown this woman pictures of them, and that’s what eats me to this day- how could you try to kill someone with two babies at home who depend on me and need me? I ended up driving myself to the father of my kids home, which I beat on the door as hard as I could, and he came out to see me pouring blood all over his porch. He then drove me to the ER, and I barely hung to consciousness the whole drive. My car had at least a gallon of blood in it at this point. When I arrived to the hospital it almost seemed like a scene out of a movie- doctors running in and running me back to the intensive care unit in a wheelchair, probably 7 or 8 cops filling up the rest of the space in the room as I went in and out of consciousness. Cutting off my blood soaked shirt was when it really set in. The officer asked me what I was hit with and I said “some kind of blunt object I think? Maybe my baby’s car seat base?” WOW, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I had 3 severe stab wounds from a 5 or 6” hunting knife on my right arm. I was bleeding out through the artery near my elbow. 28 external and 14 internal stitches later, I survived, luckily, but I will say that I am not okay. I don’t know if I will be for a long time. We later found a slit on the headrest where she tried to stab me in the throat. This woman has yet to be caught. I am trying so hard to keep it together and be the best mother I can be to my children, but I can’t even work. Physically I can drive, but mentally I can’t be in a vehicle with someone behind me. She took my job away, but at least she wasn’t able to take my life away. I don’t like asking for help, but anything would be appreciated. I just need some time to focus on healing (not just my physical wounds) and my family. I am not the same person I was. I don’t feel safe anymore, I can’t be alone, I feel like I won’t be able to sleep until this woman is locked up. I probably check on my daughter 20 times a night. She stole my wallet, so I’m sure she knows where I live. I am so broken but I’m trying to be strong for my children. Thank you for reading my story, and hopefully this keeps others from suffering a worse fate than i did.

~all donations will be used to help cover the lack of income I currently have (feeding, clothing, and housing myself and my two children) & medical expenses/mental health expenses. Any leftover funds will be donated to the Kanawha humane society.