Kayla Hayes was close to turning 19 years old when she decided to end her abusive relationship..
Kayla is a survivor of abuse who’s now sharing her story in hopes of helping others. After surviving a horrific assault and dealing with months of recovery, she started her own organization, Rise Above, to inspire others and raise awareness.
Kayla had been dating Seth Aaron Fleury for about a year and the relationship continued to get more controlling and abusive. She eventually developed the courage to leave her boyfriend.
After a year of lies and manipulation, Kayla ended her relationship with Aaron.
Seth asked Kayla to meet him for one more meeting in a parking lot near their hometown of Simpsonville, South Carolina.
At first, Kayla is hesitant to go to the meeting place, but she still wanted to allow him to try to apologize for some of his wrongs. So, she agreed to meet him in the parking lot for a discussion. Seth hoped Kayla was ready to resume their relationship.
Kayla approached the meeting fearing that something terrible would happen – and something terrible did happen. After she refused to get back together with Seth, he bit off 85% of her lip.
“I looked down and my lip was literally on my leg it was covered in gravel. I picked it up and was like what the heck is this. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what was going on, how did this happen? I just remember thinking, I wish this would be over. All because he couldn’t take being rejected.”
Fortunately, people came to her rescue. A horror-stricken man and an elderly woman. An officer, she referred to as “Officer R.”
“I remember Officer R pulling his walkie-talkie… (and) … saying something along the lines of it being more serious than what he was expecting, my lip being completely severed off and for the EMS to come quick.”
Kayla’s lip was too severely damaged to reattach, so doctors cut around her cheeks to reconstruct the lip. Kayla wrote on Cosmopolitan that she tried to act and stay positive for her mom:
“When my mom got to the hospital, I was just getting out of surgery. She was in tears, devastated, but I tried to make light of the situation, joking, ‘Well at least I don’t have to dress up for Halloween!’ I know if I let it get to me, the she’d fall, too. I couldn’t bear to see that happen.”
Kayla needed over three hundred stitches, several surgeries, and reconstruction to restore the lip. Kayla still needs more work done to get back her smile, but she’s happy with the progress made so far.
Plastic surgeons attempted to save Kayla’ lip, but could not, resulting in “permanent, serious scarring and a permanent, limited range of motion in her mouth.”
South Carolinian Seth Aaron Fleury pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He will serve at least 85% of the 12-year sentence before he becomes eligible for parole, according to a release from state solicitor W. Walter Wilkins.
Solicitor Wilkins hoped that the 12-year sentence would “make it clear to both this defendant and other abusers that domestic violence in any fashion will not be tolerated.”
Don’t remain silent if you or someone you love has experienced abuse. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is always available at 1−800−799−SAFE(7233) or TTY 1−800−787−3224 or (206) 518-9361 (Video Phone Only for Deaf Callers).
Watch the video report below for more details:
Source: AWM