According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1 in 4 women will be the victim of some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime. On average, 20 people every minute are physically abused by their intimate partner in the U.S., which equates to over 10 million women and men.
After Amanda Parks’ daughter, Ashley, became one of those statistics who didn’t survive to tell her story, Amanda made it her mission to warn others about the extreme dangers of domestic violence.
In a viral Facebook post, the grieving mother details the harsh reality of her daughter’s untimely death at the hands of her partner and its haunting aftermath.
Her charge to abused women everywhere is now empowering victims across the web.
“Don’t wait, just RUN,” Parks pleads. “Don’t think back, just go.”
Read Parks’ post in full below, and be sure to SHARE her message with the women in your life who may need to hear these potentially life-saving words:
“The first picture is where my baby took her last breath. I didn’t get there in time. I will never be able to forget it. She bled out alone and scared, trying to figure out how the man she loved so much could shoot her in front of their son.
The second picture is all I have to visit. It’s been two years today. Two years without your voice, your laugh, your silliness, your smile. Two years of devastation to wake up to every morning.
Two years of Jase still asking where you are, is he going to see you, or telling me that you are with Jesus.
I miss you more with every breath I breathe. Some days the pain is so unbearable I can’t move. I’m not ok nor will I ever be ok again. They say there comes a time the pain gets easier. It’s a lie. The pain gets harder, being able to lie about it and be believed, now that gets easier.
Every morning I wake up my heart is ripped out like it happened yesterday. Seeing life and friends and family move on like you never existed is overwhelmingly sickening. I know life must move on and the ones that I know loved her the most still remember–it’s hard very hard.
Girls if you are in an abusive relationship, get out. Don’t let this happen to you and your family.
There will never be justice, not true justice. The men that do this are cowards, and drugs and alcohol are never an excuse. I was there and got out. I always prayed Ashley would never have to endure what I did. Unfortunately, I was wrong, she suffered much worse. They will never change and it will escalate.
You think the judicial system is there to protect you but in reality, it only protects the criminals. If the judicial system had done what they were supposed to have done the first and second time, he would have never been out to kill my baby.
Please get out, don’t wait, just RUN, don’t think back, just go.”
