Help Vanessa Heal From Trauma
Donation protected
On July 25th, 2018, Vanessa Kinsey (Ursini) survived a brutal attack that was meant to take her life. Luckily she is safe and the assailant has been placed in police custody.
Vanessa's insurance policy is not scheduled to take effect until next month which means that her medical bills may not be covered. She will also be losing out on income from her Pilates instruction and restaurant service.
If you've ever met her, you know that Vanessa is the kind of loyal person who will "give until it hurts" for even a recent acquaintance. Could you help her mental and physical healing by making a donation? Spreading the word will also help her immensely.
The following is Vanessa's description of the events:
As some of you may have heard I was involved in a horrific incident yesterday morning, so I thought I would take some time to share what happened to me to help create awareness to all of my friends and family.
At about 7:15am Wednesday, I was walking my dog Berreta alone on our regular loop on the Platte River Trail, a short walk from my home. A man passed by me that I had recognized briefly from the day prior when I was walking with Billie. He didn’t make eye contact with me and I got a very strange vibe. Somehow he made it on the other side of the loop, meaning he must’ve cut through the woods somewhere knowing where I was headed. The dog and I passed him and I said excuse me. About 30 seconds later I noticed him very close behind me. I saw he had a rope in his hands and at that point he was too close to try and put any distance between us.
He strangled me from behind and drug me into the woods about 15 feet off the trail where he removed almost all of my clothes. He continued to choke me using his hands, the rope, and with a bandana of some sort. I fought like hell and screamed my brains out, even my sweet dog tried to fight him and bite him as much as she could. He threatened to kill me, I believe to get me to stop screaming. I thought that this could be the end but I was not about to give up fighting for my life. He hogtied me from my neck to my wrists, then to my ankles and told me he was going to let me go but he needed to find his glasses first. He searched for them multiple times and couldn’t find them, I begged him to let me help but he said he couldn’t trust me. I somehow managed to sit up and was able to reach the knot around my ankles and free myself.
I had no choice at that point but to run for my life as fast as I could, unfortunately without my dog. I made it to the bike path almost completely naked screaming for help. I’m so thankful there were people around that ultimately were able to protect me. A man on a bike chased him down and was able to restrain him until police arrived. HE IS IN CUSTODY. He is a registered sex offender and has multiple warrants out for his arrest, the detectives are very confident he won’t be seeing the light of day for a very very long time, if not ever. Later I was able to find Berreta, so she is also safe at home.
This was the worst day of my life but I knew I had to fight, it simply wasn’t my time to die. I love you all for all of the support and am feeling better today. I still feel like I got hit by a freight train but I am lucky to be in good hands today with my family and friends.
Each and every one of you: please be aware of your surroundings at all times. Even if you have been on your local path, your grocery store parking lot, or anywhere 100 times, danger can exist anywhere. I am lucky to be alive, so please have a plan in place to protect yourself from whatever may be out there. Be safe out there, lots of love from me!
Vanessa Ursini, Survivor
Vanessa's insurance policy is not scheduled to take effect until next month which means that her medical bills may not be covered. She will also be losing out on income from her Pilates instruction and restaurant service.
If you've ever met her, you know that Vanessa is the kind of loyal person who will "give until it hurts" for even a recent acquaintance. Could you help her mental and physical healing by making a donation? Spreading the word will also help her immensely.
The following is Vanessa's description of the events:
As some of you may have heard I was involved in a horrific incident yesterday morning, so I thought I would take some time to share what happened to me to help create awareness to all of my friends and family.
At about 7:15am Wednesday, I was walking my dog Berreta alone on our regular loop on the Platte River Trail, a short walk from my home. A man passed by me that I had recognized briefly from the day prior when I was walking with Billie. He didn’t make eye contact with me and I got a very strange vibe. Somehow he made it on the other side of the loop, meaning he must’ve cut through the woods somewhere knowing where I was headed. The dog and I passed him and I said excuse me. About 30 seconds later I noticed him very close behind me. I saw he had a rope in his hands and at that point he was too close to try and put any distance between us.
He strangled me from behind and drug me into the woods about 15 feet off the trail where he removed almost all of my clothes. He continued to choke me using his hands, the rope, and with a bandana of some sort. I fought like hell and screamed my brains out, even my sweet dog tried to fight him and bite him as much as she could. He threatened to kill me, I believe to get me to stop screaming. I thought that this could be the end but I was not about to give up fighting for my life. He hogtied me from my neck to my wrists, then to my ankles and told me he was going to let me go but he needed to find his glasses first. He searched for them multiple times and couldn’t find them, I begged him to let me help but he said he couldn’t trust me. I somehow managed to sit up and was able to reach the knot around my ankles and free myself.
I had no choice at that point but to run for my life as fast as I could, unfortunately without my dog. I made it to the bike path almost completely naked screaming for help. I’m so thankful there were people around that ultimately were able to protect me. A man on a bike chased him down and was able to restrain him until police arrived. HE IS IN CUSTODY. He is a registered sex offender and has multiple warrants out for his arrest, the detectives are very confident he won’t be seeing the light of day for a very very long time, if not ever. Later I was able to find Berreta, so she is also safe at home.
This was the worst day of my life but I knew I had to fight, it simply wasn’t my time to die. I love you all for all of the support and am feeling better today. I still feel like I got hit by a freight train but I am lucky to be in good hands today with my family and friends.
Each and every one of you: please be aware of your surroundings at all times. Even if you have been on your local path, your grocery store parking lot, or anywhere 100 times, danger can exist anywhere. I am lucky to be alive, so please have a plan in place to protect yourself from whatever may be out there. Be safe out there, lots of love from me!
Vanessa Ursini, Survivor
Organizer and beneficiary
Yoga WithIan
Organizer
Denver, CO
Vanessa Ursini
Beneficiary