Artist attacked on the 4th of July

It was the 4th of July and the fireworks had just ended…The air was hot and darkness had just set in. The street next to my downtown apartment was hoping. Everyone was walking around having a good time visiting different bars and restaurants. I decided not to go out and retired back to my apartment. Soon boredom set in at 11 pm and I found myself putting on my shoes… I grabbed my purse and headed down the elevator. I put the address in my google maps and it showed it was only two blocks away. Being that it was a beautiful night and the street was busy, I decided to walk…Everything was fine until I took a turn…Suddenly no one was around, businesses were closed and I knew I had made a mistake. I was ready to turn around when suddenly that was no longer an option. A man had been hunting this street…He was waiting for someone like me and I had wandered into his trap. He whipped his car into an alleyway right behind me, blocking my way. He jumped out of his car, leaving both the passenger and driver’s door open. He sprinted up to me which wasn’t hard being that I was recovering from a broken leg and still in a full orthopedic boot. He knew I couldn’t run away and I knew it too. At first he just wanted to know where I was going and if we could hang out. I kept saying no but still being polite. He definitely was weird but he didn’t look scary. A 33 year old white guy, well groomed in a nice car. I had made it half a block walking toward the lights where I knew I would be safe again. Suddenly everything about this man changed, he was no longer asking…He cut me off and got in front of me. His eyes were black and his face was full of hate. He lifted up his shirt and showed me his gun. At that moment time slowed down and my heart began to beat wildly, pumping the adrenaline into my veins.I looked at the gun and then I looked at his face. I was brought up around guns so seeing one isn’t necessarily scary or shocking to me. When he didn’t get the reaction he wanted he upped the game. He took the gun out of his waistband and pointed it at me, he was only an arms length away at this point and he was sure to hit me with several bullets if he wanted to. Then the haunting words I will never forget came out of his mouth. “Get in the car bitch”, he demanded as his black eyes narrowed. Now I know enough to know that you never go to a second location. It is better to fight than willingly walk to your death and torture. In my case I was more resisting then fighting. After he told me to get in the car, I calmly told him that he was going to have to shoot me because I wasn’t getting in the car. I don’t know where my courage came from but I’m pretty sure it was God. Not thinking that there were other options a gun can be used for I grossly underestimated the gray area between shooting me or not shooting me. At that moment he fired the gun into the air above my head and swiftly came down with it hitting me behind my left ear. My knees buckled but I didn’t fall down. He then began pistol whipping me several more times with the gun on the left side of my face. Every time he hit me he pushed me backwards closer to his car. One of the blows broke my face in 11 places, the one after that pushed all of my broken bones inward like a funnel. I knew I was losing so I threw myself on the ground and began to scream like a wild animal. He then started dragging me down the sidewalk by my hair. At just the right moment a car started to come down the dark road and he got scared and ran back to his car. I was sitting on the sidewalk 20 feet from him as he sat in his car and watched me. I continued to scream until my voice broke. I got up and tried to run away but my leg brace wouldn’t let me. So I had no choice but to swiftly walk and continue to turn around to see if he was coming. I grabbed my phone out of my purse and called 911. They just happened to be around the corner where the rest of the people were. They came in less than 2 minutes and took me to the emergency room. They found the bullet casing but the man was gone. I started throwing up in the ambulance as everything started to sink in.I later learned of all my injuries and the long process of repairing both my mind and body began. Beginning first with my facial reconstruction surgery. They had to go in and paddle out the bones of my face through both my mouth and my head. I now have a metal plate and several screws in my face. My jaw is misaligned and that is making my already chipped teeth move and become loose. My hearing goes in and out, all words have a line drawn threw them. Solid objects have yellow spots. There is very limited peripheral vision in my left eye. I constantly have a headache due to the point that my sinus bone was free floating in my face. My septum is bent and my nose is crooked causing breathing issues. I always feel like I’m going to have a heart attack and I feel I’ve aged 10 years in the last year. I’m always scared, I struggle with making myself leave my apartment. Everything is too loud, too bright, too close. I was accepted into a traumatic brain injury fund that will begin shortly. I literally have a three second memory making everything so much harder. My arm is littered with notes written by a sharpie to remind me of the tasks for the day. I blank out in conversations and I have no idea what anyone has said. I can’t find anything and I’m behind in every aspect of my life. More surgeries are coming like a wave of obligations knocking at my door, it never ends. I still have PTSD and panic attacks but I continue to push myself every day. The man was caught using video surveillance from businesses in the area. Unfortunately he went on to sexually assault two women after me before he was caught. After a year I still haven’t gone to trial, hopefully that time is near. I continue to use every platform I can to tell my story. Things like this don’t only happen in the movies! Arm yourself with something, anything. Mace, a stun gun, a personal alarm and a gun if that is an option for you. Don’t be embarrassed to take an Uber two blocks, because two blocks the wrong way could cost you your life. Don’t walk alone, especially after dark and always be aware of your surroundings. It’s easy to underestimate someone else’s intentions. Before my attack I had $20,000 in the bank, I worked my butt off and paid off everything on my credit report. I was setting myself up to move back to Florida and buy my very first house. After a year of not being able to work, that money is gone. My credit cards are maxed out and I risk losing my apartment every month. I just want my life back!!!My dr.’s say I am disabled now. I used to be an interior designer and a professional organizer. I also worked part time at a nonprofit hospital for several years. But as I wait for my disability to be finalized I’ve found myself in a really scary position. I’ve resorted to selling my furniture and other personal belongings to just keep myself and my dogs from being homeless or having to move in with my parents at 48 years old. My car needs to be registered, my rent is behind, I have a $3,000 dental bill, my electric bill is behind, my car payment is due in a couple days, I struggle just to keep my phone on. I’m horrible at asking for help because hearing “no” is worse than not asking at all. But I find myself here needing other people more than I ever have. I’m asking for a little help so I can get ahead before I lose everything I have left. I’m not in this position due to drugs or alcohol, I don’t do either. I’m in this position because a selfish evil man decided that my life didn’t matter and he stole it from me. Even if you can’t help out, please share my story with the people you care about, that’s all I ask.