On December 16, 2017, Chelsea Damboise had the worst day of her life. Authorities say that her boyfriend, Michael Truskauskas, drugged her and started abusing her.
According to reports, Michael threw Chelsea around the apartment, punched her in the face over and over again, tried to choke her, and even tried to break her wrist and fingers.
When Michael pinned Chelsea to the bed, he then allegedly cut off some of her hair. Eventually, Chelsea was able to escape and report Michael to the police, but the trauma showed on her body for weeks.
Ten days after her brutal attack, Chelsea decided she needed to make a change, so she got a drastic haircut.
Since some of her hair had been cut off during the attack, she chose to shave it all off. She also asked for an Aztec sun to be shaved into one side to represent rebirth.
This is a truly moving story, and Chelsea is so brave for sharing it.
Thumbnail Photo: Instagram / andyauthentic
[H/T: Health]
Andy Mendoza, the Connecticut hairdresser Chelsea went to, shared her story on Instagram, where it got a lot of attention. To date, it has over 9,000 likes.
The barber wrote:
So today I received a visit from a beautiful soul who went through an awful experience. A coward tried to take her life and in the process cut and pulled her hair out!
As I cut her hair, we talked and I couldn’t help but notice how nice she was, and how much she did NOT deserve what happened to her.
No woman ever deserves this! My mother was a victim of abuse, and I remember it vividly! SPEAK UP AND TELL SOMEONE!
(She gave me permission to share her images, and wants to let everyone know, “she is happy to be alive.”)
Guys PLEASE if you or someone you know is suffering from domestic ABUSE do not hesitate to contact someone for help.
Chelsea also opened up and shared her story on GoFundMe.
She wrote:
On December 16th I experienced the most life changing and scariest things of my life, my boyfriend took drugs and not only drugged me but tried to kill me for a good 6 hours.
This was one of the hardest things I've ever went through and it has brought me to rock bottom.
I lost my health, my regular mentality, my apartment, lost my job and I lost my whole regular life routine. I️ have never felt so lost in what to do with myself and the only thing now I really know what to do is rebuild and start a new.
I've never been someone to really reach out for anything unless it’s a necessity but i’m asking anyone that’s willing to help me rebuild back up to my feet, to my normal self, to love, live and thrive again, to help me, no matter if it’s something big or small, or even something small like a hug or a flower or a cup of tea haha.
This made me feel so helpless like I couldn’t protect myself. Obviously I don’t have anywhere near the funds to find a gym and train, but after this experience I feel extremely driven to learn and train to feel better about my well being and safety. As I have been a big fan of the MMA, especially UFC it’s grown into an amazing association.
My goal in life now is to train and become the best that I can be physically and technically especially the drive I have found after experiencing this close to death situation.
Chelsea also spoke directly with LittleThings, saying:
What made me decide to shave off all my hair was, I wanted to have a fresh new start, so I had it shaved with almost an Aztec sun design on the side, representing rebirth.
To many survivors like me, stay strong and use this as a milestone/turning point in your life.
Don’t let this drag you down and define who you are; use it to motivate you to be the person you want to be, and don’t stop being yourself.
Don’t sweat the small stuff either, because there’s many people right now that have your back and will help you through this hard journey to learn from.
If you feel like there’s no one, just reach out and, I promise you, someone will be right there by your side. You’ve already got through the hard part. It gets easier from here.
The biggest thing I could learn from this is: be careful, and stay aware of your space and the people you surround yourself with.
Keep people around who support you and everything you do while lifting your spirits, helping you along the way, if so be it. And remember, things are going to take time to heal and get back to normal — but it will happen.
Chelsea's story is a powerful reminder that even the strongest people can end up in bad relationships and dangerous situations.
Never forget that those who love you should always treat you with the respect and kindness that you deserve.
Please SHARE Chelsea's inspiring story with your friends and family.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, don't hesitate to contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline.
