Survived a car jacking

My name is Mary. I am a wonderful mom to 2 young children. On May 10, 2022, I was the victim of an attempted carjacking. I survived that day, but it will be a long road ahead for physical, emotional, and financial recovery for me and my family. Those of you who know me know that I am not one to ask for help; it is the opposite-I am the one who offers help to everyone else, so it has taken a lot for me to start this GoFundMe page and tell you, my story.

 

As some of you might know I had just started a new job less than 2 weeks before I was attacked, so the benefits hadn’t started yet at the new job, and I haven’t been able to return to the job yet. The doctors said I will be out of work until at least the end of July of this year, so bills keep accumulating.

 

I survived several intensive surgeries on my left arm in the past 3 weeks and am still out of work recovering from the trauma that was inflicted on me that day. I am juggling specialist appointments for my hand and arm and continue to attend regular psychologist appointments individually and with my children for the trauma we have endured from this horrible event.

 

I never imagined I would have something like this happen to me while sitting outside of my child's school waiting for her school day to end. I was working on training material in my car when a young man attempted to carjack me. He yelled at me to get out of my car while implying he had a gun. When I refused to give him my car, he punched me in the face. Honking the horn and screaming didn’t deter him; he kept trying to get into the car and continued to punch me in the face. Several unsuccessful attempts to take my car turned into him making his way into the back seat where he tried to overpower me once again. When I tried to get out of the car, he started to follow me, so I tried to jump back into my car to drive away while screaming and honking my horn until someone would come to help me.

 

My arm was wrapped around the frame of my car where the back door was and one of my feet was in the front door as he was trying to pull me out of my vehicle. He slammed my foot and my arm in the doors several times. Then a few punches to the face and jaw later, two Angels showed up to save me. These two ladies saw the struggle and scared the carjacker away and a 3rd Angel who rode up on his bike followed my attacker as far as he could, but he eventually lost him.

 

The attacker was finally gone. Unfortunately, all the cameras in the area that were recording didn’t get a good look at his face, especially with what he was wearing. Shock had set in for me, but the clock was ticking. It was time for me to pick the kids up from school. That was the reason I refused to give up the car. The kids needed to be picked up from school. There wasn’t enough time to get anyone else to pick them up, so I drove to both of them-regardless of the condition I was left in-and of course they attend two separate schools too.

 

When I showed up at their schools, the kids were terrified. I tried to keep them calm while I drove to the hospital explaining what had just happened to me. I assured them I would be ok. Even though they didn’t see the incident occur, they experienced trauma seeing what they saw that day. There was blood everywhere and of course we were all terrified. I called my fiancé while I was driving and told him where I was heading and why. He left work right away and started driving to the hospital.

 

My fiancé picked the kids up and I was rushed into surgery that night. The surgeon told me he would do what he could to repair the damage to my left arm, but I was suffering from compartmental syndrome. He said it could mean several more surgeries and a possibility that I would never be able to use my left arm again. He said when the compartments around your muscles are smashed, and blood is unable to flow freely, it can result in muscles dying which can cause long term side effects.

 

When they did the first surgery, they had to cut out some dead muscles and leave the wound open for several days to let the swelling go down. A few days later, they went back in to see if there was any more damage once the swelling has subsided. They did find more damage, but the good news was they did not need to do a skin graft to close the wound, which is needed a large majority of the time, so in that way, I was lucky.

 

The outcome could have been so much worse! We are very thankful that I am alive, but this will still take a lot more time to overcome. I thank you for anything you can do to help.

 

 

As a survivor, I want to offer a few pointers:

 

* Be vigilant of your surroundings.

* When you get into your car lock the doors right away as well.

 

* Leave your car running when you’re stopped. (This way you can just drive off if someone tries to steal your car)

 

* Don't roll your windows all the way down. (It makes it harder for them to get into the car to steal it.)

 

* Keep something close to you to fight back with. (Scissors, knife, taser, mase, etc...)

 

* Throw your keys one way and run the opposite direction if possible.

 

* Remember there is nothing more important than your life and health.

 

Please stay safe this summer.

 

Thank you in advance.