Cold Case Files - I SURVIVED: I Did Not Allow Myself To Consider The Probable Outcome

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

Danielle is shot by a 14 yr old boy after she reluctantly agrees to give him a ride. Amy is hiring in the Sierra Nevada mountains when she falls off a 60 foot ledge breaking her legs. While docking at a Mexican marina, a stranger boards Mark’s boat and brutally stabs him.This Episode is sponsored by BetterHelpApartments.com - To find whatever you’re searching for and more visit apartments.com the place to find a place.BetterHelp: Visit BetterHelp.com/SURVIVED to get 10% off your first month!Progressive: Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle III, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the Grandview shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in the supernatural thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series.

Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Hi iSurvive listeners, I'm Marisa Pinson and before we get into this week's episode, I just want to remind you that episodes I Survived as well as the A&E Classic Podcast's Cold Case Files, City Confidential, and American Justice are all available ad free on the new A&E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple Plus for just $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show. This episode contains subject matter

that may be disturbing some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. I knew that at the very least he was going to rape me, and I felt like if he did that, he was also going to kill me. Real people. I did not allow myself to consider the probable outcome, which was that I would die entirely alone in great pain in the middle of the wilderness. Who faced death. I knew that I was just getting weaker and weaker and weaker.

At times I saw blood just squirting like a fire hose out of me. And lived to tell how. And I'm thinking, where is he taking me? Will they find my body right away? Will it be days before they find my body? Will they find my body? This is I Survived. It's June 2010 in Conway, South Carolina.

After a theater performance, amateur actress Danielle drives home to her 12-year-old daughter. Danielle stops for gas and notices a young man standing between the pumps. I noticed him because he was, he didn't appear to be with anybody. He was just standing there and he looked young.

He stopped me and he said, excuse me, ma'am. And I turned around and I said, yeah. He says, which direction are you going? I need a ride. And I was hoping that you would be so kind as to drop me off. He looked very defeated. He looked dejected. I mean, he kind of looked at the grounds a lot of times

and said, ma'am, I've been walking for hours. While Danielle pumped gas, she hoped that someone else would arrive to give the boy a ride. It was late at night, and so your mind fills with all of that. You know, this is not a good idea. You know, I shouldn't do this. And then the counter side is thinking, he's obviously young. Why am I being this way?

I literally questioned myself and said, if he was a well-dressed white boy, would I be having this turmoil? He looked anywhere between 12 to 14, I would say. I felt really sorry for him. He was small in stature. He was taller than I was, but skinny. And his face was scarred up real bad but I was reminded of my own

daughter and I would never want her to be somewhere stranded and so I thought well I will give him a ride. The boy asked to be dropped three miles away near the library. It wasn't a bad area and so I thought oh okay with the library you know if someone meant to I thought, oh, okay, with the library, if someone meant to do harm, they wouldn't bring you to the library. He told me that he had to get to his aunt's house and that's where I was taking him. I even asked him, are you gonna be able

to stay there tonight? I was worried about it. At that point, I became worried about him. The boy directed Danielle to a big house in a very good neighborhood. As they pull in front of the house, I'm actually looking up at the house, because it's on a hill. And so I'm looking up at it, kind of like, wow, that's a nice house. And I was just like, OK. And I even asked him, I said, this house right here?

He's like, yeah, stop right here, stop right here. And I thought, OK, I'm going to go to the house. And I was just like, okay. And I even asked him, I said, this house right here? He's like, yeah, stop right here, stop right here. And I thought, okay. That's when I hear a voice, his voice, but it was very deep and very much in control and very, very different. And there he is and he's pointing a gun right at me. The first thought when I saw the gun

and I saw him pointing it at me is I should have known. I had this feeling that said, don't pick him up. You know, don't do this. And I talked myself into it. I was shocked at the person now sitting next to me in the car. He went from boy, helpless, submissive, well-mannered boy to a very menacing, violent, cold, calculating man. Immediately, my mind started racing.

What am I going to do? How am I going to handle this? Can I talk him out of it? What is going to happen? I was scared. I was scared to death. I had that knot in the bottom of my stomach, my heart. I felt like he could hear it.

He demanded, give me everything that you have. I said, fine, take it. I wanted him to know I was not going to fight him. I was not going to resist. You know, I was not going to die over my belongings. I gave him my purse, and he says, how much cash do you have in there?

I said, I don't have a lot of cash, but I have debit cards. And he demanded the PIN number to those cards, which I gave him. Then he sat there for a minute. He says, and your car. You're going to give me your car? And I said, OK. I said, you can have the car.

And I opened the door, and I went to get out. And that's when he yelled, no. He said, you're going to stay here and you're going to drive me and you're going to turn where I tell you to turn. And you're going to go where I tell you to go. You'll stop when I tell you to stop. Do you understand me? I said, yes, I do. Once he took the gun out, he never took it off of me. It was pointed directly at me the entire time. He was looking directly at me the entire time. Not satisfied with stealing Danielle's money and her car, the boy tells her to start driving again. He was very deliberate about go here, go there, go do this. So he knew exactly where he

expected me to end up. I wasn't sure where we were going, and as we're driving, he starts questioning me about the PIN numbers again. What's the PIN number? Are you lying to me? He says, well, if I call somebody on the phone right now and they check out these PIN numbers, would they check out? I said, that's, yes, but I'll take you myself. I'll take you to an ATM right now,

and I'll walk up there with you, and you can get the money out." He was too smart for that. Danielle expected that the boy would direct her towards the projects, but he didn't. He had me turn down a street called 9th, and I was actually trying to get to around 16th Avenue, because right in that area, there are more gas stations, very well lit. When I didn't turn down 9th, where he said, then he got mad. Avenue because right in that area there are more gas stations very well lit. When I didn't turn down 9th where he said then he got mad and I thought oh gosh I cannot do this and so then he told me to make a right down 10th which I did.

There's houses on either side, it's this charming little area and I'm still thinking where on earth are we going? While we're driving, he's asking me, are you scared? I wasn't sure how to answer him. I was trying to figure out what answer he wanted. He looks at me in just a very cold, a cold voice, and stare. He started making sexual comments towards me, asking me what I

like and he asked me, do I like to get effed? And it wasn't just my money, it wasn't just my car, it was going to be my body as well. At the very least I was going to be raped. This was not going to end well. There would be no talking him out of this. There would be no, I'm going to be nice to him, and he'll let me go. All my hopes that I would walk away from this really went out the window. And I didn't know whether he was driving me to some abandoned house where there'd be five guys waiting for me,

or whether it was just him, I didn't know. I knew that at the very least he was gonna rape me, and I felt like if he did that, he was also gonna kill me. I could see it in his eyes. He had no regard for me as a human being. He was going to derive pleasure from hurting me. Where is he taking me? Will they find my body right away? Will it be days before they find my body?

Will they find my body? Danielle feared that she would never see her 12-year-old daughter again. I think the moment that you know that you're going to die, that's when your head fills with all that stuff. I thought about my daughter and she's 12 and she's at that age where she just needs a mom. That really got to me. That really, and I became desperate at that point to get away.

I now have no doubt that I am going to die. And so if I die in the process of trying to escape, I'm no worse for the wearer. I have to take that chance. He tells me to make a left hand turn and that's where it starts to get into an area that maybe I'm not that familiar with. Remember him demanding, slow down, slow down, turn here, turn here.

And as he's yelling this at me, I scream no. I scream no. And I hit the gas, I tried to floor it, and I turned my wheel as sharp as I can, trying to drive into those trees in the center of the road. I did not get very far at all, and that's when the gun went off and he shot me in the head. It sounds like a firecracker. It's this pop sound. And then I hear this extremely loud ringing in my ears.

The first thought was, oh my God, I've been shot. And then I put my hand up there, and the blood is just shooting. I mean, it is running down my arms, a lot of it. I'm dying. I am dying. And it's strange because you think there's no way you can survive a gunshot to the head. This was in a graze. Danielle ran towards the only house in the street with lights on.

I'm holding my head and I'm running and I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, as loud as I can scream. Both sides of that street are lined with houses, and so I'm hoping this is going to alert somebody. I didn't know if he was chasing me, if he—what he was doing. I thought that he would. I didn't think he was going to let me get away. I came up to a house with the lights on. I got really scared when I got to the door because they had a porch light on. I thought, I'm very exposed right here, and he's seeing where I'm going.

If he doesn't shoot me right here, he's going to see me go in this house, and maybe he'll go in the house. A First Lady walks up, and she just screams and kind of steps back. And then a Second Lady comes up and throws open the door. And I am just praying, please don't let me die. I can't die.

Please don't let me die. I remember just sitting on the ground rocking back and forth like this, just holding my head and saying, please don't let me die. And I can hear the woman in the background on 911. Someone just came to my back door. I do not know her name. She has blood on her, and she's screaming.

Do you need an ambulance? Yes, hurry up. There's blood all over my floor. OK. And so the cops are going to be here. Just the cops will be here soon. They'll be here soon. And I was frustrated.

I'm dying. And I can't wait for these cops to get here. You make all these kind of like bargains with God, I guess. You know, let me just be deaf. Let me, you know, be paralyzed but not dead. I have to be alive. I can't leave my daughter with this. Danielle remembered that the attacker had stolen her purse with her address in it.

He now knows he's taken me out. He's going to go to my house. That's where he's going to go. And my daughter's there. I felt my phone in my back pocket. And so I dialed my fiance's phone. And he answered. And I said, don't ask any questions.

Listen to me right now. Get in the car. Get. Get in the car. Get Adriana in the car and get out of there now. And that's when the cops came in. And the cops took my phone from me. And the cop took over and said, she's been shot. We're taking her to the hospital. Danielle's 14-year-old attacker was picked up half an hour

later driving her car. He was just driving around town, joyriding in his trophy. It was almost like his prize. Doctors decided it was too dangerous to remove the bullet in Danielle's head. The bullet actually went in behind my ear, went towards the center of my head and hit a bone and ricocheted off the bone and it stopped just sure of my spinal cord and my brain stem. So they are hoping to just leave the bullet in there. The only contingency of that is whether or not the bones will actually heal around the bullet because the bones

in my neck are actually broken right now which is why I'm still in this collar. The boy who shot Danielle was charged as a minor. What makes you desire to hurt someone who is extending a hand of kindness to you, trying to help you? What is that? I survived because I didn't let him take me to wherever it was he intended to take me.

I have said that I have no doubt that he intended to kill me and I stand by that. Had I not jumped out of that car and ran, I would not be sitting here today. I just made a run for it. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Let's talk about something a lot of people have been feeling these days. Workplace stress. Did you know that 61% of the global workforce is experiencing higher than normal levels of stress?

It's become one of the top reasons our mental health can take a hit. While we can't always escape our work responsibilities, we can take small steps this summer to prioritize our wellness. I find that taking time to read for a few minutes or taking a quick walk outside helps me reset and feel more balanced. Of course these breaks are nice throughout the day, but they aren't a long-term solution for managing stress. That's where therapy can make a real difference, Whether you've tried it before or just considering it,

therapy isn't only for major life events. It's also about learning healthy coping skills, setting boundaries, and becoming the best version of yourself. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform with over 30,000 licensed therapists and more than 5 million people helped worldwide. It's convenient.

You can join a session with just a click and switch therapists anytime. With a 4.9 out of 5 rating from over 1.7 million reviews, BetterHelp is making it easier than ever to take care of your mental health. Why not make this summer the season you put your wellness first? As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash survived.

That's betterHELP.com slash survived. I Survived is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called AutoQuote Explorer that allows you to compare your Progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies.

So you save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this episode at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. It's July, 2003 in Kings Canyon National Park, California. 45-year-old Amy has been hiking all her life.

Amy likes the freedom to spend time alone in the wilderness whenever she wants. I started hiking alone because it wasn't always easy to get friends to go with me, but I discovered, I rapidly discovered that I actually preferred that kind of experience. I do take safety precautions. I let three friends and family members know exactly where I'm going and when to expect me back. I phone them from the trailhead and I phone them when I get back because I know that these trusted people will come in and find me if I don't return. Amy has planned a hiking trip that covers 170 miles of wilderness in 17 days. The high point of my trip was meant to be the

Tehipiti Valley, which is a valley in the very center of Kings Canyon National Park that plunges as deep as the Grand Canyon. It's one of the most remote areas in all of North America. After 12 days hiking into the park, Amy arrived at an entrance trail to the Tehipiti Valley. I knew it was an unmaintained trail, but I wasn't concerned. I had talked to somebody two days previously who told me it was accessible. It's a very steep trail and not well maintained,

but I felt strong and confident. I was surging down into the Tihippity Valley and it was late afternoon. I was looking forward to camping as soon as I got to the base of the valley. I had lost my trail earlier that morning and I had lost my trail again, but I had a map and a compass. I knew where I was going and I was confident that I could find the trail again. While climbing back towards the trail, Amy had to work her way around a steep hillside. I was holding onto a rock with my left hand and a tree with my right hand. My left foot

was firmly planted and as I put out my right foot on what I thought was a firm hold, the rock and the tree gave way and I was thrust out into midair, and suddenly, from safety to desperation, without warning, I found myself plunging 60 feet with nothing below me but solid rock. There was nothing I could do to change my fall. I didn't have time to shift position. I didn't have time to pray for help.

I landed, and I thought, I'm still alive, and I couldn't have time to shift position. I didn't have time to pray for help. I landed and I thought, I'm still alive. And I couldn't believe it because I thought after a 60-foot fall, I would surely be dead. Most people would have been dead. It's like falling off of a six-story building. Astounded to still be alive, Amy checked for injuries. So I pushed myself with my arms up into a sitting position and looked around. And as I looked down at my right knee, I saw that it was a gaping crater of flesh with bits of bone sticking out everywhere. I could hardly think about how horrible it was. It was a gaping open wound where I used to have a strong right knee.

Fighting back the pain, Amy wrestled her hiking boots off to see if she could move her toes. I found that I could move my toes just a very little bit, so I thought, this is good, it means I'm not paralyzed. I remember at one point as I tried to shift my body that I almost blacked out from the pain in my hip. I could not move either leg so much as an inch. I could not move my thighs. I could not move the bottom of my legs. I was so badly damaged that I couldn't walk, crawl, stand up. I knew this was a really

bad thing. As Amy wasn't due to finish her hike for another five days. Nobody would be searching for her. I was 25 miles from the nearest trailhead. Nobody knew exactly where I was. There was no cell phone access in that area, especially in a deep ravine. Nobody was going to be wandering by casually to see me and rescue me, so I knew that I was all on my own. Mercifully, my backpack had fallen within arm's reach.

I had my gear with me, and I strained backwards, grabbed my pack, pulled it to me, and used my first aid kit. The first danger was simply that I would bleed to death as I was bleeding copiously from my right knee. So without thinking about it too carefully, I padded it up with every bit of extra clothing I had. I tied it as tightly as I dared so that I would stop the bleeding.

And I knew even then, if the bleeding didn't stop, I'd have to tourniquet my leg, which would almost certainly mean that I would lose it. I was desperately worried about dying. I knew it that I had been given another chance, but my job was to figure out how. I knew that I had been given another chance, but my job was to figure out how could I possibly extend my life and be rescued.

With both legs badly broken and no help in sight, Amy prepares for the freezing night ahead. I was terrified to look again at my injured knee. I could not grasp how horrible it was. I was shaking uncontrollably, and I realized I was starting to go into shock from the injuries. In that area, it drops to close to freezing every night, and I knew I had to get my body warm somehow, or I would very simply die of shock and exposure in that first night. So I did what my mom had always recommended.

I made hot chicken soup on my little camp stove, and I gulped down the cup of hot liquid in that first night. So I did what my mom had always recommended. I made hot chicken soup on my little camp stove and I gulped down the cup of hot liquid and then I just pulled my sleeping bag over me. After a painful night, Amy assessed her situation. I was entirely alone. I was desperately injured and I had to figure out some way to try and ensure that this second chance at life

that I had gotten would continue. It would have been easy to just stay there, slip into unconsciousness, slip into death. And I thought, how much do I want to live? And the answer was there, sweet and swift, yes, I want to go on living. I did not allow myself to consider the probable outcome, which was that I would die entirely alone, in great pain in the middle of the wilderness. Amy still had enough food in her pack

to last another five days. Mercifully, I had fallen next to and partially in a small stream. Dying of starvation or dehydration was not my first concern. I knew at the bottom of the valley was a larger trail and I thought to myself, if I can somehow

drag my limp body down to the larger trail I can lay myself across the trail and I may still be found before time runs out. I had been calling out randomly, but I knew that since only a handful of people

hiked in this area, it was very unlikely that anybody would come by and hear me calling. Despite two broken legs, Amy knew that her only option was to claw her way to the bottom of the ravine. So I tied my backpack to me, sat on my butt, and started pulling myself with my hands, still injured hands, down the ravine, an inch or two at a time.

And when I came to a crevice, I would have to use my hands to pick up my feet and move them around the crevice. I figured I had a couple of weeks to make my way down the ravine, so I thought, I'll just keep on going, and eventually I will get there, one inch at a time, one mile at a time.

A stream running down the ravine helped Amy to move. I would shift my body into the stream before I started down the ravine. It helped to numb the pain of my injuries, and it also helped to push me along a little bit. But then I was soaked with water. I knew that I had to keep my gear dry in my backpack because if my gear got soaked, I would have no way of warming my body.

So I had two plastic garbage bags that I always carry with me, just in case, and I had wrapped my down sleeping bag in one of those and all of my dry clothing in another. At night, I would pull my warm clothing over my soggy tank top which had retained some body heat. I wasn't toasty warm and all cuddled up but I was still alive in the morning. After two days of extreme pain, Amy physically couldn't move any further. So I made myself as comfortable as I could and settled down to spend another night. This was about as close as I came to losing hope. I was basically in despair as I came to losing hope.

I was basically in despair. I had done everything that I could, and I knew it wasn't gonna be enough. I had been calling out randomly during the last few days, but I knew that it was really unlikely that anybody would be passing by and would hear me. I was basically at that point talking to myself, but I cried out, and that was the moment when I heard the sound.

Toot, toot. Two simple toots of a whistle. I abandoned the calm that I had relied on for the last three days and started screaming, ah, just anything I could do to attract attention, and I hollered, help, I have broken legs, help me, help me. I kept on calling because I knew if there was a person out there, this was my chance and quite likely my only chance.

So I grabbed my little pot out of my backpack and started banging on it hysterically, clang, clang, clang, clang. I whacked a hole in the bottom of my water container to use as a megaphone and I kept on screaming at the top of my lungs. After making as much noise as she could for two hours, Amy heard a person scrambling down the ravine. There he is standing on firm ground and I burst into tears because I had not allowed myself to lose hope, but I'd honestly never thought to see another person in my entire life.

He said, hi, I'm Jake. And I said, very polite we were, I said, hi, I'm Amy. Jake was hiking with his wife Leslie and their friend Walter. My whole body looked like a black eye. I was literally bruised from head to toe. My face was black, my arms were black, my legs were horribly swollen. And he said, can I touch you? And I nodded through my tears and he sat down next to me and ever so gently put his arm

around me. Due to Amy's critical injuries, Jake's hiking companion Walter sets off on a 25-mile run for help. Walter is a marathon runner, and he was willing to run up the trail out of the Tehippity Valley. This is the equivalent of running out of the Grand Canyon to seek help for me. First, in the late afternoon, we hear the sound of a helicopter. It comes overhead and then it leaves. We hear the sound of another helicopter. It comes overhead and then it leaves. We hear the sound of another helicopter. It circles overhead and again, we don't think that it has been able to find us.

Finally, a helicopter circles overhead and Jake is certain that it has seen us. Unable to land, the helicopter hovered overhead and lowered a stretcher for Amy. As soon as I was loaded into the stretcher, the pain kicked in and it was absolutely incredible. I was beside myself. I couldn't think, I could hardly speak. It was screaming agony the whole time of the airlift and the helicopter ride.

I still didn't allow myself to think that I might lose my legs, which was a very real possibility. When I got to the hospital, a doctor told me I had been a few hours from death by septic shock. The serious infection to Amy's wounds almost stopped her internal organs from working. After multiple surgeries and eight months of intensive physical therapy, Amy went hiking again.

I survived because of a combination of my own determination and a whole sequence of miracles. If I had not dragged myself down that ravine for three days, Jake doesn't think that he would have heard me. So I exhibited my desire to live to the powers that be, and I also dragged myself to a place where I could be heard and found and rescued. So I think that it's a synthesis

between miracles and determination. Finding the one can feel impossible. And in today's world, it's even harder. False profiles, inaccurate pictures, incompatibilities, ghosting on dates. Is this sounding familiar? But if you're ready to make your move to a new place, it doesn't have to feel like dating.

All it takes is a simple search on apartments.com to find your perfect match. Whether you're looking for a three-bedroom condo downtown, a two-bedroom duplex in a quiet neighborhood, a cozy studio in a walkable city, or even a single-family home in a cul-de-sac, you can find a place that checks all the right boxes. So whichever stage of life you're in, settle down in your perfect home by using Apartments.com. No more swiping and awkward first dates. Make it easier to get a place that gets you. Visit apartments.com, the place to find a place.

For weeks now, New Jersey residents have been played by unexplained drones flying overhead. Is there intelligent alien life? And if so, has the government been covering it up? All right, UFO sightings the military can't explain. Congressional hearings, Pentagon whistleblower. What does it all mean? What does it all mean? What does it all mean?

We are here to try and figure it all out with our new Ancient Aliens podcast. There is a doorway in the universe. Beyond it is the promise of truth. It demands we question everything we have ever been taught. The evidence is all around us. The future is right before our eyes. We are not alone. We have never been alone. Listen to the Ancient Aliens podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

It's December 2009 in Mazatlan, Mexico. Mark is the captain of a luxury boat specializing in fishing charters. The boat is about 102 feet long. It's 23 feet wide. It's just a huge, big, gorgeous, long-range fishing boat. We were in Mazelon, Sinaloa, Mexico it's called, at the El Cid Marina, and we had been there for almost two months fishing out of there. It was very good fishing. I have two mates that live on the boat with us, that travel with us.

They're Mexicans. They have their papers and everything, and they've been with me for five years. Early one evening, Mark was alone on the boat getting ready to go into town. I was turning on the deck lights and the nameplate lights for the boat and everything, making it look real pretty. And a gentleman knocked on the side of my vessel. He was very muscle-bound. You know, he had a butch haircut, blue eyes, real blue eyes. And he was a very presentable, nice-looking guy, really. I looked out the window and I said,

yes, could I help you? And he says, I have an emergency, and I need to borrow your VHF radio. I ask him, I says, do you work on a vessel around here? I've never seen you before on this talk. And he said, yes, I do work on a boat called the Puma. And I said, that's only three or four boats down. And he said, I know, and I need to call.

I need to, there's an emergency on it. Mark welcomed the stranger aboard and showed him to the radio. And I says, go ahead and try and call. And so he put out three distress calls and nobody answered. And finally, I said to him, I says, you're not getting through. So I need to go myself. I got people waiting for me.

He turned to me real quick and he looked dead in my face and says, I'm not leaving until I get a waiting for me. He turned to me real quick, and he looked dead in my face and says, I'm not leaving till I get a hold of somebody on the radio. And I went, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave right now. Then he turned back and looked me straight in the face, and he said, you know, I should just stick you with a knife right now.

That's when my whole mind changed. And I thought, you know, either this guy is on some drugs, or is he really serious of what he's saying? All of a sudden, he says, OK, I will leave. And I said, great. I think you should leave right now. He was in front of me, and we walked down the stairway, went through the cockpit, stepped on the dock, and then took off a running.

I mean, running, full bore. I called security right away because I was kind of concerned about the boat, and I asked them if they would stay on the vessel. When he returned from town, security told Mark there had been no sign of the stranger. The following day, Mark visited the owner of the boat where the stranger had come from. I says, this guy came to my boat and said he worked for you. He says, yes, he did. He only worked for me for about four hours. And I let him go. I think he was on some type

of drug. I says, well, anyway, he said he was going to stick me with a knife. Hoping never to see the man again, Mark prepared to fly home to San Diego for Christmas. About five days went by, and it was a Friday morning on December 18th. And I had just gotten off the phone with my son, and he was all excited, because I hadn't been home in almost two years. I'm walking up the stairs, and I'm looking at the steps as I'm going up to the cockpit of the boat. And I get to the top step and I see two feet and I look up and here's this guy that was

on my boat about a week ago. And I go, what are you doing on this boat? His expression on his face, I knew right then something was wrong. And he didn't say one word to me. He just pulled out a knife. And when he stuck that in my stomach, I couldn't even believe it. He just kept staring at me and just kept pulling the knife out and stabbing and stabbing. I mean, I was speechless. I didn't scream for help or anything like that because there was so much fear and I didn't have anything to protect myself with.

And he pulled it out of my stomach and then he stuck it in the right part of my neck, just jabbed me like that. The knife wounds to Mark's neck caused nerve damage to his facial muscles. He never once hit me with his fists or anything like that. All he did was use the knife. At times, I saw blood just squirting like a fire hose out of me. He wanted me to look like he wanted me to suffer a little.

I went to grab him, and he stabbed me in the top part of my shoulder here, and then ripped it down. And the blood was just pouring out of me. And I go, what are you doing? I didn't know he wanted to finish me off and say, now I'm going to cut your throat. I'm going to kill you.

I'm going to cut your throat. And as soon as he said that, I put my left hand, like this, onto my throat, and he took the knife, and he went like this, and he cut these two fingers off. And I looked down at my hand, and I went, oh my gosh. My index finger and the next finger were just hanging by skin. The bones were completely sheared off. And then he grabbed me, and then he said to me,

now I'm going to cut your throat. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to cut your throat. Those are the only words he ever said to me the whole time. That's when I knew that this was it. He was going to kill me. As soon as he cut my throat, he backed off. And that's when I picked up both legs

and I kicked him as hard as I could. And he went flying against the door. Hit himself real hard. And he stood there, he kind of just froze. At the other end of the boat, shipmate Pancho heard the struggle. I heard one of the mates holler at me, Mark, are you OK?

What in God's name is going on? I says, Poncho, watch out. This guy has a knife. He may stab you. Poncho raced down the stairs to protect Mark. Poncho just reached down and grabbed my chest and put his arm around my chest and pulled me up the stairs. He shut the door and latched it shut

and took me off my boat and laid me down on the dock. And I was bleeding just all over the place. To protect them from another attack, Pancho grabbed a bat used for killing fish. All of a sudden the hatch door opened and the guy stepped out and Pancho hit him dead center on top of the head and it didn't even phase him. And he dove into the water from the cockpit of the boat. He dove over the side into the water. Noticing the commotion, a water taxi chased the man across the water.

Noticing the commotion, a water taxi chased the man across the water. He swam fast and he almost got to the side of the other side of the marina when the water taxi got him. And they grabbed him from the water. And I heard the guys all holler and say, we got him. We got a rope around his neck. They just started beating him with boards and everything. I mean, the guys were going crazy because they thought I was going to die. A doctor from the Marina Hotel was called.

His name is Dr. Miguel. And I said, Dr. Miguel, I need to get a hold of my family. I don't think I'm going to make it here. And he said, Mark, don't you say a word. You're bleeding too bad. I knew that I was just getting weaker and weaker and weaker. And I had never in my life seen that kind of blood. Even when we cut fish open, I didn't see blood

like I saw in me. I thought that I was never going to see my family again. I knew I wasn't going to see my family again. And the doctor hollered at Pancho, Mark may die. He's losing way too much blood. All I kept saying is, Lord, please keep me alive. I don't want to die yet. I don't want to die. With no time to wait for an ambulance, the doctor ordered a van to rush Mark to the hospital. Well, I had an eight mile drive to the hospital in a van with no sirens No, nothing and I don't know if you've ever driven around Mexico

there's a stop sign is a suggestion it's not a People usually don't stop at all of them all of of a sudden we pulled up in front of the emergency at the hospital. I'm losing blood and still losing blood. They said to me, Mark, we gotta get you into surgery. The doctor stemmed Mark's bleeding by burning the skin around his wounds. You know, and I could smell my flesh burning.

And all I wanted to do was talk to my family. I didn't know how severe the cuts were. The stab wound to the stomach had missed my colon by minute. And the cut on this side missed my jugular vein by less than a quarter of an inch. One doctor was able to reattach my fingers, put the bones back together with the pins, and he said that I would probably not be able to move them, but at least they're both on my hand and I can move them a little bit. The doctor told Mark they had to give him six and a half liters of blood.

He says those were the worst stab wounds he had ever seen on anybody. And I worked in ER for almost 30 years. And he says, how you live through it is beyond me, Mark. Mark learned that his attacker had escaped from a U.S. military mental hospital. He was a Navy SEAL, and he was discharged from Iraq. And they found out that he was completely loaded with meth. Marks attacker was sentenced to 23 years in a Mexican prison. I'm 66 years old and I'm physically in great condition.

I think that I just had enough strength to protect myself, what little bit I could, and I think a lot of prayers from heaven helped me a whole bunch. This summer, Pluto TV is exploding with thousands of free movies. Summer of Cinema is here. Feel the explosive action all summer long with movies like Gladiator, Mission Impossible, Beverly Hills Cop, Good Burger, and Transformers Dark of the Moon.

Bring the action with you and stream for free from all your favorite devices. Pluto TV. Stream now. Pay never.