By Macy Moors
GREENE COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — A Greene County woman is telling her story of domestic violence in light of a recent uptick in strangulation cases in Greene County.
She wants to keep her name private and is speaking out about her experience with domestic violence.
Meredith says it all started when her husband questioned why she went to a different grocery store. She says he was also upset because she brought the family home lunch.
“And then he pushed me up against the wall and used quite a bit of force in my strangulation,” she said. “He was holding down between five to eight seconds, and I know that doesn’t sound like a long time, but that much pressure on your throat, it does cause some pretty severe damage.”
Meredith says she thought she was going to die.
“Yes, and I’m a Christian, and didn’t believe the name of Jesus could save my life,” she said.
Meredith says despite not being able to breathe, she was able to utter Jesus’s name, and that’s when her husband let go of her throat.
Forensic doctors at the University of Virginia Health System determined Jonathan was holding 100 pounds per square inch on Meredith’s throat. Doctors say it takes six to open up a can of soda.
“It wasn’t until after my adrenaline went down that I realized I couldn’t swallow. I realized I was having a hard time getting air,” said Meredith.
Her husband has since been convicted of felony strangulation. He’s serving four years with time suspended. Meredith says her children are suffering.
“My children are struggling. They’re struggling with the after-effects of trauma, they’re affected by not having their dad,” she said.
Meredith says she has no regrets about coming forward about her abuse and encourages other victims to do the same.
“I would like to say hurt people hurt people, because we have broken little children inside of adults, and because of that, we are not functioning the way that we should be, and that would be healing our past trauma from our adolescent or teen years, so we don’t open that wound and bleed into other adults in relationships,” she said.
If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, below are some resources:
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