‘Just don’t let me die,’ Michigan stabbing victim said after attack

By James Felton and Brianna Owczarzak

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    AUBURN, Michigan (WNEM) — A mid-Michigan woman managed to survive a violent attack, and now she is speaking out about her brush with death.

TV5 is not identifying the man she says attacked her until he is arraigned in court.

“He had got his arm through my window and that was when he first cut me,” said Laurie Atwood, mid-Michigan resident.

Atwood said it was her ex-husband who assaulted her and nearly killed her a week ago. She said she is the woman who was attacked in front of Nori’s Restaurant in Auburn on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

“I looked back up again to have him reaching back in my truck to open up my door to get in. And that’s when we started struggling. I was fighting him off. I started screaming actually at that point. The minute my door came open, I started screaming for somebody to help me,” Atwood said.

At first, Atwood tried to cover up.

“It’s when he struck my artery right here, and I really started to spew out blood, is when I was like, OK, enough trying to stay safe. I gotta run away,” Atwood said.

She was able to get away from her assailant. People came to help, including two off-duty nurses who were shopping at a grocery store nearby.

“If it wasn’t for those two ladies, I probably would’ve bled out on that bench. They had made a tourniquet, and one had their thumb in my wound here. And then the other one had one up here on my neck as well to make sure that wasn’t bleeding out. And I just kept praying and asking them, ‘just don’t let me die,’” Atwood said.

Atwood was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. It wasn’t until the next day she learned her ex-husband was accused of being involved in a police chase that ended in Bay City when the vehicle he was driving smashed through the wall of a townhouse.

“I was shocked, honestly. He was not like that in the time that we’d been together. Actually, all of this was unlike him,” Atwood said.

Atwood said her ex-husband is still in critical condition and he may or may not make it. She wants to know why he tried to kill her. But no matter what happens to him, Atwood said she is leaving it all to God.

“Anybody wants justice to be served. But I’m a firm believer in God. And I know that whether he will pay the price here on Earth or he will pay the price on the other side, either way, justice will be served whichever way you look at it,” Atwood said.

Atwood went into detail about her injuries.

“I was stabbed 24 times. One stab mark is in my thigh. The rest is from my chest up. My ear did get partly cut off. They were able to save it. I can’t feel it. But hopefully it will come back in due time. As you can see, he did try to get my eyes. He tried to slit my throat, tried to get my jugular vein,” Atwood said.

Atwood said in the seven years she knew her ex-husband, he had never acted like this before.

“We wanted to try again for our kids,” Atwood said.

A decision that nearly ended her life. Now she wants people who may be dealing with domestic violence to hear her message.

“Take the help that’s given to you, even if you don’t think you need it right there at that time, take the help. If you have an opportunity to get out, then get out. Talk to people about it. You know, express the way that you’re feeling and your fears, and the things that make you uneasy in that relationship to somebody,” Atwood said.

She said trusting her instinct last Tuesday helped save her life.

“There were definitely warning signs that day of something happening. That’s why I didn’t roll my window all the way down. And that’s why I chose a public parking lot. Certain things just didn’t feel right when I met him,” Atwood said.

Now, Atwood is taking each day as it comes.

“It’s going to be a long road and it’s been really tough. There’s a lot going on between just like my body healing, but you know just my mind and my heart healing as well. It’s been really rough, but every day I’m thankful,” Atwood said.

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