During a violent attack, a woman was nearly decapitated by her boyfriend. Thanks to a team of charitable surgeons the woman will get a new face.
ABCNews.com is reporting that Ilianexy Morales met her boyfriend outside of her New York City home. In the early stages of their budding relationship, her boyfriend was totally supportive and helped her care for her four year-old daughter and bedridden mother.
It didn’t take long for the supportive relationship to turn into a vicious cycle of manipulation, possessiveness and jealousy. In 2005, three years after they started their relationship, Morales tried to end things with her unpredictable, violent boyfriend.
He responded by stabbing her over a hundred times with a butcher’s knife. He nearly decapitated her and almost completely severed her arms.
Morales described the attack, “All of a sudden, he took out this knife from his sock. He started attacking me immediately and didn’t even give me time to react.”
“I was in complete shock. I couldn’t get out and couldn’t do anything. He was so fast.”
“The last thing he did was the face. I remember going in and out of consciousness.”
Nearly dying in the attack, Morales was in a coma for several months. She also had to undergo numerous surgeries in order for doctors to reattach her arms.
During her recovery, her former boyfriend was caught, arrested, tried and convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Even after all the surgeries, her face was left scarred. Morales said she didn’t recognize herself when she looked in the mirror.
“I didn’t look like me. I would hide a lot. I felt really ashamed of myself even though it was not my fault.”
Ilianexy Morales’ life was changed thanks to a group based in Alexandria, Virginia. Face To Face is an organization that has worked with Morales since 2010.
Dr. Andrew Jacono is a facial and reconstructive surgeon out of New York City. Dr. Jacono donated seven hours of his time to perform flap surgery on Morales.
Dr. Jacono stated, “Ilianexy was critically injured. It wasn’t just a simple scar.”
“She was almost stabbed to death. She probably would have been killed if he wasn’t stopped by a neighbor. He was going to finish her off.”
After having the surgery on her face and neck, Morales also received a new set of teeth. She even has a new boyfriend. She revealed, “Finally, because of the surgery, I am able to appreciate people and life again.”
Face To Face is the charitable section of the American Academy of Facial, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. They launched their domestic violence project in 1994 after the brutal murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.
Be sure to check out Kelly’s other columns:
National Family and Parenting Examiner
National Sports Celebrity Examiner
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