Here is WE Magazine for Women’s latest worth reading book excerpt is Choosing Survival: How I Endured a Brutal Attack and a Lifetime of Trauma Through the Power of Action, Choice and Self-Expression by Lynn F. Forney
About the Author
Lynn Forney has always loved to dance and perform. She began taking formal dance classes at 8, attended a performing arts high school, and received a BFA with highest honors from the University of Florida, and has performed and choreographed for various dance companies. While dancing, she began taking acting classes, which led appearing in various movies and TV shows. She has also written, produced, directed, and starred in two short films. She still pursues all of these interests and looks forward to combining these skills with her passion for healing through the arts.
When home on a break from college, Lynn Forney awoke to a man, a stranger, in her bed. Then he stabbed her. Seven times. She lost 21 pints of blood. Statistically, she should not have survived. And if that wasn’t enough, she was victim-blamed and -shamed by the investigating police, hospital staff, family and friends, and even strangers. Now, she’s telling her amazing story of survival: candidly, honestly, courageously. Hoping that in doing so, she will help others do the same.
Excerpt from Choosing Survival: How I Endured a Brutal Attack and a Lifetime of Trauma Through the Power of Action, Choice and Self-Expression by Lynn F Forney. Reprinted with permission from Flying Feet Publishing
I begin to feel my eyelids flutter. Slowly. Gently at first. I feel so groggy, unsure of where I am. As my eyelids begin to blink open, only a tiny amount, I hear a voice.
“She’s starting to wake up. Look.”
A few quiet gasps follow. I begin to see figures around me. Staring. Tense. Nothing more than silhouettes. Confusion wraps around my brain. Foggy. Muddy. Where am I? I continue to peer through the murkiness, adjusting to the light. Suddenly, it’s as if the tip of a tornado touches down on top of my head. Swiftly pulling any grogginess from my body up into its fierce cyclone. My eyes rapidly pop open. Alert. Wide. Panicked.
As panic shoots through me, I can see the figures clearly now. “Her eyes are open.” Murmurs follow with bated breaths. I feel my lips pressed around a hard plastic tube. My throat is stuffed full. I feel like I’m suffocating. I want to scream out, “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” But I am unable to form words. I am unable to cry out. I am unable to even create a breath.
I feel like I’m dying. I try to put my hand up to my throat. Desperate to ask for help. To communicate what I’m feeling. I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! Someone help me! Please! I pull and pull and pull, but I’m unable to move my hand. It feels so heavy. Glued to the bed. Pinned down under a force I can not fight. I try desperately to lift my arm. It won’t budge. Lift. Lift. Lift. I try to will it with all my might. I’m terrified. Why can’t I move?? I quickly realize my entire body is being held captive by the same force that has trapped my arm. My eyes are wild with fear. Why won’t any of you help me?
My terror builds as I’m unable to ask for help. Everyone around me stays still. Staring. Looking at me like I’m on display. God, what is happening to me? Everything inside of me is screaming out. But I can do nothing. I can’t even breathe. Despite this intense fear coursing through my veins, my eyelids begin to descend. The heaviness of my body begins to seep into them. No, no, no. I need help! I struggle against them. Stay open, I plead. But they do not listen. I feel my eyes roll back. My eyelids flutter. My vision begins to blur. The edges get fuzzy. I try to fight. I need help! Please! But no words can escape my mouth that is still stuffed full. The tornado returns and as it touches down, exhaustion seeps into my head. My body quickly drinks it up. The voice in my head becomes more distant. Hollow. I can no longer fight. My eyelids continue to flutter. My vision continues to fade. Until, once again, it is dark.
To learn more and get your copy of Choosing Survival: How I Endured a Brutal Attack and a Lifetime of Trauma Through the Power of Action, Choice and Self-Expression by Lynn F. Forney is available on Amazon
To learn more about Lynn F. Forney visit her website https://www.lynnforney.com/
