Melissa Dohme was stabbed 32 times by her ex-boyfriend, but now she will marry the paramedic who saved her life

"I was too exited. He gave me his number and said, 'You know we're here for you,' but I thought maybe I was just being nice. "

In January 2012 Melissa Dohme, a 20-year-old Florida woman, was brutally attacked by her ex-boyfriend, Robert Lee Burton Jr., 22. By this time they were no longer a couple, but Melissa had decided to meet with him one last time to conclude their relationship once and for all: "He called me at 2 in the morning. He told me that he had gone to court that morning because of the domestic violence charge that he needed to close our terrible relationship and that he just wanted a hug. If I saw him one more time, he would leave me alone forever. "

After being stabbed 32 times, Melissa thought that her life had come to an end: "A young woman heard me scream and called 911. Then Robert grabbed a larger, toothed blade, and attacked me with that. I knew the police would come soon and wanted to break up with me. He intended to kill me. he left me lying on the road and I thought I was going to die. I simply prayed to God to save me and give me a chance. "

Her ex-boyfriend was arrested, but according to the surgeons who attended her, Melissa had to be resuscitated several times: "Her skull and jaw were broken. My head and nose were fractured. Robert had cut my facial nerve, so the right side of my face was paralyzed. " After a long recovery, which involved several surgeries and therapies, Melissa cried the first time she saw herself in a mirror: "I was barely 20 years old. It was devastating. However, my faith was strong and I knew I was not on Earth to be upset about how I looked. I was blessed to be alive. "

Melissa and Cameron Hill, the paramedic who saved her life. Photo: Facebook

Months later, Melissa met the service team who had saved her life, and one of them, a paramedic named Cameron Hill, invited her and her mom to dinner: "I was so excited. He gave me his number and said, 'You know we're here for you,' but I thought maybe I was just being nice. Then I could not stop thinking about him. I knew I had feelings for him, but I asked myself, 'Do I feel this way because it was one of the nurses who helped me?' "

"I was invited to give the inaugural pitch at a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game, in recognition of my work at schools to raise awareness of violent relationships. I was ready in the field, but I did not have a baseball. Cameron came over to give me one. The ball was written with the words 'Do you want to marry me?' It was the most surprising moment of my life. "

In 2013 Robert Lee Burton Jr was sentenced to life in prison. At that time Melissa declared that she felt "to have recovered her life", but that bitter moment has been in the past: "We are going to get married in a few weeks. All the people who saved me, from the first police officer on the scene to the last surgeon, will go to the wedding. "