Read the signs, urges domestic-violence victim
Published:Monday | July 6, 2020 | 12:15 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
Domestic violence victim Lisa Smith, 23, barely escaped with her life when she decided to end the three-year abusive relationship she had with a man she regarded as being ‘decent’.
She is now urging women to be cautious when entertaining thoughts of pursuing a relationship.
In late May, Smith, who lives with her daughter in Guys Hill, St Catherine, was left with serious injuries when the man with whom she was with, attacked her with a machete in a fit of rage. She was inflicted with chop wounds to the back of her head, forearm and a finger that was partially severed; she received 20 stitches.
Believing she was dead from the grievous injuries he inflicted on her, the man then went and hanged himself.
‘Not official yet’
“It wasn’t as if we had established a relationship or anything. What we really had was an ‘arrangement’, but I guess he couldn’t deal with me deciding to end things,” said Smith, who has a daughter from a previous relationship.
She said the experience has taught her that people should never ignore signs along the way, if there are any.
“My experience tells me people should now know when to walk away. He never accepted the fact that it was the end of the arrangement and that he should have just walked away from it.
“Honestly, I never saw him as an abusive person, but it just goes to show that you cannot really know someone well enough,” she explained. The arrangement, said Smith, would involve him providing some financial assistance in exchange for services she would supply, such as preparing his meals.
Smith has been receiving treatment every other day for her injuries, costing her thousands of dollars and pain – both physically and emotionally.
“The injury is getting better in some areas than others, and I have to be going to the doctor every other day to dress the wounds,” she said. “At that moment, I was so scared that I was going to be killed by this man. Women need to make sure of who they having relationships of any sorts with.”