41-year-old Caroline Way is a victim of domestic violence and narrowly escaped being killed by her boyfriend, Deke Orris, 39. As she recovers from the final injury he inflicted on her, Caroline, from Axbridge, Somerset , is sharing photos of her bruised face every day in the hopes of inspiring other victims of domestic violence.
The attack, which happened three years ago, was the last of so many others, and it was so horrific that it led to the end of the toxic relationship and saw Deke sentenced to 18 months, with a two-year suspension. Caroline was attacked by her ex-boyfriend following a row.
He strangled her until she almost passed out. He had even grabbed a big kitchen knife and threatened to rape her before saying, “we are going upstairs to die now.”
She was able to escape death but left with a broken jaw, cracked eye socket, two black eyes, blurred vision and most of her face needed to be rebuilt. Now, three years after, the business woman has decided to share the photos, one each day. She said that as she watching her wounds change each day was therapeutic and helped her heal her mental wounds. She is now hoping her story will inspire other women in similar situations to leave before it’s too late.
She shared the photos on her Facebook account and wrote:
“Ok, so this isn’t going to be a comfortable thing for people to see. But I’m posting this after 3 years as I don’t want any girls to have to have their faces rebuilt and their whole lives dictated by abuse. I’m trying really hard not to let my past dictate my future, but it sometimes feels like it does. Like it, ignore it I don’t care, but don’t let yourself be stuck in a relationship that turns bad and the end results is this.’
She also wrote:
“I became a selfie queen. I used to take a picture of my face every day just to see it changing and how I was getting better. I found it so therapeutic. This was a way of telling myself that because I could see my physical scars retreating, I knew my mental ones would too. Then I realised I could help other women by showing them what I had overcome so I posted the pictures on Facebook. The response was overwhelming.”
Caroline first met Deke in her home town Axbridge, Somerset, when she was 30. She brushed off his past, including heroin use and a GBH conviction, when he promised he had changed.
She said:
“Looking back, I feel like an idiot as I’m so not the sort of person to get involved with someone like that. But I thought I could change him.”
Caroline eventually ended the relationship but let him stay in their home while he looked for somewhere else. She started seeing other men, which raised the tension with her jealous ex. At some point, he forcefully tried to go through her phone though they were no longer together. She refused and as they fought over it she mistakenly knocked him and Deke flipped.
“He pinned me down and strangled me. He was sitting on top of me and I couldn’t breathe. He punched me so many times,” she said. “He said he was going to rape me and went to the kitchen and picked up a huge knife.”
During the attack, they passed by a mirror and Caroline saw her reflection in the mirror and started to laugh hysterically at the unrecognizable face that stared back at her. Her unexpected reaction made him switch back, so, he started crying and did not continue with the attack. He was arrested soon after.
360L
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