Tammy Lawrence-Daley's Facebook post about a horrifying holiday attack has gone viral. Photo / Facebook
Tammy Lawrence-Daley's Facebook post about a horrifying holiday attack has gone viral. Photo / Facebook
A woman has told of being bashed, buried and strangled within an inch of her life in a random eight hour attack while on holiday, writes news.com.au's Megan Palin
WARNING: GRAPHIC MATERIAL
A woman who was allegedly bashed within an inch of her life in a random "savage attack" while on holidays in the Dominican Republic has revealed horrific details about the eight hour ordeal.
Tammy Lawrence-Daley, her husband, and their best friends Diane and James Doering, were staying at the Majestic Elegance all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana for a week of "sunshine and beach-time" when it turned into a holiday from hell.
On Wednesday, Ms Lawrence-Daley, 51, of Wilmington in Delaware, published a lengthy Facebook post about the January assault in which she said she was set upon by a stranger and left for dead in the basement of a resort.
"How do you explain to your kids you were almost killed by some random stranger and that 'Mommy is coming home, but I don't look like myself'? How do you look into your parents eyes as they gaze upon your battered face telling them, 'I'm okay, I'll be okay,'" Ms Lawrence-Daley wrote.
"Now that I've had some time to heal, it's time to tell my story, in the hopes that women will be more aware, and hopefully prevent what happened to me."
According to Ms Lawrence-Daley, the incident took place after the group attended a theatre show and went dancing on the second night of the trip.
She said they headed back to their rooms about 10.30pm and she started to get hungry so ordered room service.
But she soon received a message that the kitchen was no longer serving food for the night. Ms Lawrence-Daley said she then told her husband she was going to head downstairs to the lounge in the building "for a snack" and that she'd "be back in 5 minutes".
"I ended up bypassing the lounge in our building, and opted to go to the lounge in the next building, which was on the beach," Ms Lawrence-Daley said.
"I thought I could get some pictures of the moon on the water, but I never made it to the beach."
Tammy Lawrence-Daley before and after the savage attack. Photo / Supplied, Facebook
Ms Lawrence-Daley recalled how it was "eerily quiet" when she went through the rotunda between the buildings before she was suddenly attacked from behind by a man in a uniform with the resort logo.
"I took about 10 or so steps just swinging my wristlet back and forth, not a care in the world," she wrote.
"That's when I heard it. Heavy footsteps … one, two, three, four, then they sped up, and then before I could react I was ploughed into from behind and immediately immobilised.
"His arms wrapped around me and he started pulling me immediately into an unlocked maintenance room."
Ms Lawrence-Daley said she wouldn't "go into the gory details of everything" but that she "fought with everything I had at that moment". It was to no avail — her attacker "was too strong", she wrote.
"The next 8 hours brought me pain and fear. I was strangled multiple times to unconsciousness," she said.
"My lifeless body was drug down concrete stairs to an underground waste water area. I was kicked in the head, I was beaten with a club. And then strangled again for the kill."
Tammy Lawrence-Daley is still recovering from the January attack. Photo / Supplied, Facebook
At some point, her attacker "disposed of my body into an area I refer to as the 'hole'."
"I was unconscious multiple times during this savage attack, so I have no idea what else was done to me during that time. Somehow I survived," Ms Lawrence-Daley wrote.
"Again, I won't go into all of the hell that I went through being basically 'buried' in that hell hole for so many hours."
Ms Lawrence-Daley told People that she wasn't rescued until eight hours later, when she heard voices above the crawl space she was in and called out for help.
"My husband and friends went to the front desk at least 3 times throughout the night before security even agreed to look for me," she said in the Facebook post. "This consisted of them taking a quad to the beach and looking on the beach.
"The security at Majestic Elegance thought I was drunk somewhere. I went missing at 10.30 and was found over 8 hrs later. It was hell."
Ms Lawrence-Daley said she spent five days at a local medical clinic where she underwent surgery.
"I am still dealing with several issues, including nerve damage, as well as, all of the medical expenses since being home," she wrote.
A Majestic Elegance resort spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment by news.com.au.
The Dominican Republic's tourist-security division also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms Lawrence-Daley noted that police found evidence "of the blood smeared mop handle and a maintenance hat in the area I was found, but this means nothing in these countries".
"This man thought he killed me, but he failed. He is still out there, a predator, waiting for his next victim. Only the next woman may not be so fortunate," Ms Lawrence-Daley said.
In her post, which has gone viral, Ms Lawrence-Daley cautioned others "please, please do not walk alone".
