Why does s--- like this have to happen?

[Satine]

WARNING: Contains pictures that ain't pretty. And some language.

I am so upset and angry right now I can barely concentrate. I just found this out and I am ready to kill the asshole that did it.

I consider my friend Heather one of the most awesome people in the world. Everybody who meets her loves her, which is why I'm having some trouble getting my mind around what happened. This past weekend, Convergence XII (a goth convention) was here in New Orleans. Heather is involved in the goth scene both here and in Cleveland, where she's from, so of course she went. She was working some of the events, including the fashion show, and had made some modeling contacts.
It started off completely normal. She was having a good time, seeing friends, making new ones, etc. However, Will, a guy she had been dating off-and-on, was acting very strangely. On Friday morning he started calling her a slut and trying to get her to admit to what he wanted to believe. She left, met up with her friend Paul who was here from Chicago, and avoided Will for the rest of the day.
That night, they were all at a concert. A little while in, Will come up to her, yells some bullshit accusation in her ear, and storms out of the club. Heather followed him and asked him what the fuck that was all about. He then starts yelling at her, calling her a filthy slut, and telling her that she needs to abandon Paul and spend the rest of Convergence with him--like he had some entitlement to her. After pointless arguing, she gave up because he was quite drunk and went back in the club. As she's leaving, he makes one final threat: if she leaves, he'll never talk to her again. (After telling her for the past few weeks that he'd be there no matter what.) She went back inside, found her friends, and had a good time.
About halfway through the night, both she and Paul were feeling tired, so they decided to head back to the hotel and call it a night. As they walked out, Will was waiting right outside the door. They ignored him. As they're walking down the street, Will comes running up behind them yelling things. He's VERY drunk by this point. He also has a reputation of saying some very odd and stupid things when he's drunk. After a short, uneventful conversation with Will, they continue walking down the street. A few minutes later, Will pulls up in his car behind them and tells them to get in. They say no, of course. Eventually he speeds away. A minute later, they see Will walking towards them AGAIN. So Heather grabs Paul, and they cross the street. Will runs after them and starts screaming stupid accusations and accusing her of lying to him. They tried to keep walking, but Will wouldn't leave. Heather kept telling him to go home because he was drunk.
They're getting close to a hotel when Will grabs Heather, slams her into the brick wall, and throws her to the ground. Before she could even start to get up, he kicks her IN THE FACE with his STEEL-TOED BOOT. He then jumps in his car and speeds away.
Thank God there were witnesses. By the time Heather realized what was going on, a lady was already on the phone with the police. Another man brought her ice and a towel to try and control the bleeding and swelling while they waited for the ambulance.

To make a long story slightly shorter, she was taken to the public hospital here in New Orleans, which is still not quite up and running. The ER is housed in tents. She had to wait for several hours before she was given a CAT scan and got some x-rays taken of her head. It's about 4 or 5 AM by this point. Around 7 AM, the doctors came in and told her what they had found out: her left cheekbone is fractured in 8 places and broken in 3, her eye socket is broken in 2, her nose is broken, her septum is torn, her jaw is fractured in 2 places, her bite is off and her teeth are misaligned, and part of her cheekbone is floating in her cheek. They also said that if Will had kicked her with one more ounce of pressure she would have DIED.
Around 10 AM, they tell her that she has to be transferred to Baton Rouge to another hospital for oral maxillary surgery, since none of the NOLA hospitals are able to do so right now. After a long and bumpy ambulance ride, she finally got to Baton Rouge and was able to call her parents, who freaked out (not surprisingly). Will also called her to tell her that it was her fault, that he had "tripped" and that it was an "accident". (?!)
She spent the night at the hospital, and her parents and sister flew down that evening. She'll need to take a medical withdrawal from school, since she'll miss at least two weeks, including finals. She's going home to Cleveland to have the surgery.
Here's Heather before:


Here's Heather after (with most of the blood and smeared makeup cleaned off):


She filed a police report, and there is currently a warrant out for Will's arrest. She is pressing charges. He led the cops on a wild-goose chase Saturday morning and is rumored to have crossed the LA border, gone back to Alabama, and be in hiding near Birmingham, where he's from.

If you want the story straight from Heather's mouth, here it is.
How the hell could anybody do this to a person? Even if you're drunk, you've gotta realize that steel-toed boots will cause serious damage to somebody's face. If I see Will, I don't know that I'll be able to restrain myself. That motherfucking waste of oxygen deserves to rot in jail for a long time. I honestly don't know what else to say other than I'm pissed beyond belief.

[Ultrawolf]

There aren't enough words to describe how sorry I am that something like this happened. I can only hope that the deranged maniac who would do such a thing is brought to justice before he can hurt anyone else. Things like this remind me of why I want to pursue a career in Law Enforcement. I sincerely hope that your friend Heather will be alright, though I imagine that the trauma from something like this won't be so easy to heal.

/modhat on

I know this is a very sensitive issue, but I'm going to ask that all discussion will be handled in a -civil- manner. I do not want this topic to be muddled with threats, hate speech, and people going overboard. I think that would be an insult to the young woman who nearly lost her life. Capice?

[Kudasai Hiroki]

I agree with UW. There aren't enough words to express how sorry I am for both you and your friend. She is lucky, in one aspect, that she has family and friends, like yourself, that will be there for her during her, undoubtedly long and painful, healing process. I have had close friends seriously wounded and killed but that's part of our job. To have something like this happen to an innocent person is truly a trajedy. You have my deepest condolences and my best wishes.

[Yunni]

I am so sorry to hear what happened and it boils my bloody furiously! She's such a gorgeous looking girl, and I hope she makes a full recovery and that idiot Will gets put away quickly.

[~Tsuki~]

You poor friend! I'm so sorry. Tell her she will be in our prayers and we wish her a speedy recovery. <3's I don't see how someone could do that to another human being. >_<;; I hope they find him soon!

[Silver Adept]

Angry, drunk, jealous boy. Kicks his girlfriend because he's unstable. I hope that she recovers fully, that he has to pay for all the reconstructive work, and that he spends a significant portion of his days in jail for abuse. We hope that Heather makes a full recovery.

[Shandriz]

What happened to your friend is awful. However, being the sort of person I am, I have to say that there's at least a little bit of a sunny spot in this story-- the two random people who didn't even know her who stopped to help out. It's always really heartening to hear about something like that. Reading your friend's blog, she seems to agree about that, just judging by the way she words things.

So, as much as I'd like to offer negative karma in Will's direction, I also want to direct some positive karma at those two nice strangers. Mysterious black lady and strange tissue-and-ice-giving man, thank you! It's people like you helping out that really give this world hope. <3

[Kugyou]

[Satine]

[Akanari]

That man needs psychological help. :[ Goodness that's horrible. Hopefully he will be arrested and charged rather harshly, and thankfully there were witnesses.

Compassion of two people on a street... :]