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She Held Her Own Head and Walked: The Survival of Alison Botha — Transcript

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0:07Hi everyone. I just wanted to give you a
0:09quick heads up before we begin. As
0:12usual, I take a break during the holiday
0:15season for obvious reasons and to prep
0:18for the upcoming year. This will be the
0:21last new true crime episode of 2025 and
0:25I'll pick up beginning on January 6th,
0:282026.
0:29In the meantime, if you haven't caught
0:31up with all of the previous episodes,
0:33it's a good time to do it. Thank you so
0:36much for your understanding. I
0:38appreciate it so much. Let's get on with
0:41this episode.
0:44Before we start, I need to warn you.
0:49This episode contains extremely graphic
0:53descriptions
0:54of violence,
0:57attempted murder, and trauma survival.
1:02It's not easy to hear
1:05was even worse to write this episode
1:09about. Felt sick to my stomach often.
1:13But we have to remember that this really
1:16happened to somebody.
1:20It's important to hear
1:23as much as we may not want to. It's a
1:25heartbreaking story, but it's also a
1:28story of resilience, of strength, and of
1:33something that borders on miraculous.
1:36If you're not in the right headsp space
1:39for that today, it's okay to come back
1:41later, or not at all. You need to take
1:44care of yourself. But I did want to let
1:46you know
1:48what you might be stepping into.
1:51I want you to imagine this for a minute.
1:56It's past midnight on a summer night in
1:59South Africa. You're 27.
2:04You've just been attacked,
2:07beaten,
2:08stabbed more times than you can count.
2:11If your throat's been slit so deeply
2:14that your windpipe is severed
2:17and somehow you're still alive,
2:21would you panic? Would you shut down?
2:24Would you even know what to do next?
2:27Allison Botha didn't have that luxury.
2:30She held her insides in with one hand,
2:34used the other hand to crawl through
2:37dirt, through broken asphalt, and when
2:41crawling wasn't enough, she stood. She
2:44stood up and walked herself to the road.
2:48Because if she died where she was, she
2:52knew that they would do it again.
2:55This is not just the story of a crime.
3:00It is the story of what happened after
3:04the survival, the justice, the scars,
3:06the system. And yeah, some of this, a
3:10lot of this might really piss you off
3:12because it it damn well should.
3:15Welcome to Beach House 34. I'm your
3:18host, Christine Worth.
3:20To understand how Allison got to where
3:24she was, we have to go back to that
3:27December afternoon, December 18th, 1994
3:32in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Now,
3:36for those of us in North America,
3:38December might conjure up snow, cold
3:41holiday chaos,
3:43but not here. In South Africa, it's the
3:47heart of summer. And that Sunday, it was
3:50the perfect day for the beach. The kind
3:54of day that just says, "Whatever I have
3:57to do can wait. I deserve this."
4:02Ellison at the time was 27 and she had
4:05just returned back home to South Africa
4:08after spending 4 years overseas. She
4:11didn't have any big career plans. She
4:14even said herself that she wasn't sure
4:16what she was good at. still trying to
4:19find out her place in this world like
4:21most of us did in our late 20s. That
4:24day, she had hung out with friends,
4:27spent time in the sun, probably still
4:29smelled like sunscreen. Later that
4:31night, when her and her friends decided
4:33to order pizza, play some games, and
4:35just relax. It was normal. It was safe.
4:40It was familiar.
4:42Nothing about that day gave any
4:45indication of what Allison would have to
4:48face later.
4:50Almost as if she had been given this
4:53perfect day because the universe knew
4:56what she would have to go through later.
4:59She dropped her friend off after the
5:01night was over and picked up her laundry
5:03from her her place or friend's place
5:06before heading home. It was just like
5:08any other night. When she got to her own
5:11apartment complex, she noticed that her
5:14usual parking spot had been taken. And
5:16so what she did is she parked a little
5:18further down. That's it. That's the
5:21moment. The one tiny little thing that
5:26changed her life forever.
5:29And we've all had nights like these,
5:31right? You're walking back to your car
5:34or you're walking into your home. It's
5:36late, but it's fine. You know, you take
5:38this millisecond to weigh the risk and
5:41then shrug it off, thinking nothing of
5:43it. Who wants to live in constant fear
5:46anyway?
5:48It was then that Allison felt a knife to
5:52her throat.
5:53A man had reached in and said, "Move
5:57over or I'll kill you."
6:00What would you do? Would you freeze,
6:03fight,
6:05believe him when he said he just needed
6:07her car for an hour and that maybe if
6:09she stayed calm, he wouldn't hurt her?
6:13That's what he told her. And Allison
6:15chose to believe him. He said his name
6:18was Clinton.
6:20So, she unlocked her doors and he got
6:23in. And this is kind of where your brain
6:25goes to war with itself, right? Did you
6:28make the right decision? had you just
6:31chosen to be one of the women you swore
6:34you would never be.
6:37So, you start to mentally beat yourself
6:38up, but you're in the position now. What
6:41do you do? Do you cooperate and stay
6:43calm, play along, fight, jump out of the
6:47car?
6:49Allison chose to stay calm, and played
6:52along. He asked if she had a boyfriend
6:55and calmly spoke to her. They made a
6:58second stop. to pick up another man. And
7:02at this point, your alarm bells would be
7:04going off, right? Every instinct would
7:07be screaming at you to run, get out of
7:10the car, just leave.
7:13This new guy got in the back, didn't
7:16bother with small talk. He just slid
7:18into the seat. And Allison saw his eyes
7:22in the rearview mirror. And that's when
7:24she knew. quote, "All I saw was dead,
7:28cold evil, and I realized I wasn't going
7:32home." They drove out of town away from
7:36the street lights and into the dark. And
7:38that that's kind of one part that really
7:40sticks with me because you know that
7:44lots of lights usually mean people and
7:46other people potentially mean safety.
7:49When you see those lights disappear
7:51behind you, your hope just sinks.
7:55They drove into a secluded, deserted
7:59area near Nord Hook. This is a coastal
8:03area outside of what was then known as
8:05Port Elizabeth.
8:07One of them asked her if she was going
8:09to fight. She didn't know how to answer
8:12that. She didn't know how to fight, but
8:15would it have even mattered? It was two
8:17against one.
8:19She tried to keep her mind clear, clear
8:21as she could and tried to brace herself
8:24for what she knew was coming.
8:28The first man forced oral on her, then
8:32her. He made comments about her body,
8:35kissed her, asked her things like, "Does
8:38your boyfriend do this to you?"
8:40Let's be real clear about this.
8:43This was all about humiliation,
8:47domination, and cruelty.
8:50This is what like this want to pretend
8:54that control is consent.
8:59At some point during the assault, she
9:02learned that this guy's name, the guy
9:04who originally carjacked her, was not
9:08Clinton, but rather France.
9:12He then called to his friend Tens and
9:16asked if he wanted to come over and have
9:19with the pretty lady. Tien said, "No, I
9:22want to the bitch."
9:24Words just as cold as his soulless eyes.
9:32As horrific
9:34as this is, it is not the worst thing
9:38that happened to Ellison that night.
9:41It was just the beginning.
9:43This was not the first time that they'd
9:46done this. But the other women that
9:49they'd attacked, they'd let go.
9:52And these women eventually went to the
9:54police. Why they were out, we don't
9:58know.
10:00This time though, the men wanted to make
10:02sure that she wouldn't talk, that she
10:05couldn't identify them. I mean, after
10:07all, they'd used their names, right? She
10:10saw their faces.
10:12This is when Allison knew they were
10:15going to kill her.
10:17She said one of the last things that she
10:20remembers before blacking out was
10:23Franc's hands around her throat. She
10:26remembers her bowels evacuating.
10:29Her body knew before her brain did that
10:34this was it.
10:36But that wasn't all. They then stabbed
10:39her in the abdomen over 30 times. She
10:43would later learn that it was 37.
10:47And as if that wasn't enough for them,
10:50they then moved to her throat where she
10:52was stabbed and slashed 17 times.
10:5717.
10:59Overall, Allison had been stabbed 54
11:03times.
11:05When they were done, they drove off in
11:07her car, throwing her clothes out and
11:10left her there in the dirt, naked,
11:14mutilated, and bleeding to death.
11:18She should have died. They were counting
11:20on it. And for a moment, so did she. She
11:25remembers hearing a whistling sound, and
11:28she wasn't sure where it was coming
11:30from. She didn't feel any pain, but
11:34somehow she knew that it was the sound
11:37of her breathing through her severed
11:40windpipe.
11:43It was at that moment that Allison knew
11:46she wasn't going to live. And then she
11:49said that she remembers leaving her
11:51body, floating above it. that sound that
11:55had been coming from her severed neck
11:57that was devastatingly loud was gone.
12:02She also knew that as she was looking
12:05down at herself that she had a choice.
12:09She had a choice to go back and she
12:12remembers making that choice when all of
12:16a sudden she could hear that loud sound
12:18of her breathing coming again from her
12:21windpipe.
12:24Somehow she was conscious. She knew she
12:27wasn't supposed to be. She couldn't
12:29speak or scream, but realized that she
12:33was still alive. This should have been
12:35impossible.
12:37What happened next wasn't something that
12:39was supposed to happen either. She felt
12:42something wet around her legs and
12:46realized that her intestines were
12:49outside of her body. Those 37 stab
12:53wounds had cut her so much that she was
12:57literally spilling out over the sand.
13:01Nearby was one of her shirts, one of the
13:05pieces of clothing that the two men had
13:07tossed out of her car. She grabbed it
13:10and held it over her stomach.
13:13Then she started to crawl. Yes, crawl.
13:18Think about that. Would you have the
13:20presence of mind to do that, to move, to
13:23try and save yourself after what you
13:26knew were [music] devastating injuries,
13:28to even care what happened next?
13:31She knew she had chosen to come back.
13:34And she knew that she was crawling and
13:37surviving to make sure that these men
13:40couldn't do it again.
13:42She kept trying to crawl through sand
13:45and gravel and little pieces of glass.
13:49Soon she knew that she wasn't going to
13:51go far moving this way.
13:54And so she somehow got to her feet.
13:58And this this is one of those moments
14:01where you just can't believe what you're
14:04reading.
14:06But it happened. It really happened.
14:11After she stood up, her view of the
14:14world was skewed and she couldn't figure
14:17out why
14:19until, and honestly, this is the part
14:22that just makes me shudder and stand in
14:25awe all at the same time.
14:28The reason that she was seeing what she
14:31was seeing and the way she was seeing it
14:34was because when she stood up, her head
14:37had flopped backwards. Her neck muscles
14:40had been cut so much that they could no
14:43longer support the weight of her skull.
14:46So, she grabbed her head and held it
14:49upright as she began to walk once again.
14:53Let me say that again. She held her own
14:56head up and walked.
15:01Somehow, she made it to a road where she
15:04ended up collapsing.
15:07And then after a time there were
15:09headlights.
15:11What if it was them coming back to make
15:14sure that the job was done? She'd come
15:16so far now had somehow summoned the
15:21strength to not only keep her body
15:24together, but to walk to a place where
15:27she'd be seen
15:29only to have it all taken away again.
15:33Thankfully, it wasn't. It was a young
15:36veterinary student, all of 20 years old.
15:39Can you imagine?
15:41He stopped, saw her there naked, bloody,
15:45barely clinging to life. He held her
15:48hand, told her she had beautiful eyes,
15:52and held on to Allison for dear life
15:54until help came.
15:56The student that had stopped had a
16:00friend with him who happened to have a
16:01cell phone. Now, back in 1994, cell
16:04phones, they weren't
16:06something that everybody had. They were
16:08relatively new, but for some reason,
16:11this person had one. So, they called for
16:14an ambulance and waited and waited.
16:1940 minutes later, the ambulance arrived.
16:23Once the ambulance did get there and
16:26loaded her up, the drive back to the
16:29hospital would take another 15 minutes.
16:33And according to Allison's documentary,
16:37they the ambulance people driving the
16:40ambulance
16:41weren't in too much of a hurry.
16:45She had to encourage them to speed it
16:47up. And the reason was they didn't think
16:50that she was going to survive all that
16:53trauma, all that blood loss, all that
16:55work to get to the road, all that
16:57waiting for help, and she was still
17:01alive.
17:03When she arrived at the hospital, even
17:05the most seasoned trauma surgeons were
17:08shocked. Doctors and nurses saw the
17:12damage and they braced themselves.
17:14expected a body,
17:17if not at the moment, than soon. Not a
17:20survivor. No one believed that Allison
17:23would last too much longer. The on call
17:26anesthesiologist that night was Dr.
17:29David Cummings. He said it was unlike
17:32anything he'd ever seen, and he works in
17:34trauma and intensive care. He'd seen
17:37violence.
17:39Allison's neck had been cut from ear to
17:42ear. Her windpipe had been severed. She
17:45was breathing through a hole just above
17:48her collar bones,
17:51but somehow her corateed artery, even
17:54her jugular vein
17:57were all intact.
17:59The doctor looked at her abdomen. Her
18:02small intestine was hanging out of her
18:04body, covered in sand and
18:09grit from when she'd crawled on the
18:12ground.
18:14The general surgeon on call, Dr.
18:17Dimmitri Angelov, was called in, and
18:20Cummings spoke to him and said that they
18:22were going to need help from an ENT
18:25specialist to manage the neck repair.
18:29But Angelof looked at him and said, "In
18:31my country, I am trained as both. I can
18:33do this." And he did.
18:37What followed was hours of meticulous
18:40and methodical surgery. Angelof cleaned
18:44each piece of Allison's intestines by
18:48hand. In some places, he had to use a
18:50scrub brush to remove debris that had
18:53become embedded. He reconstructed her
18:56windpipe, her neck muscles, and her
18:58abdominal wall.
19:00But there's no medical explanation for
19:03how Allison survived. Every textbook
19:07says she shouldn't have.
19:10Cummings later said, and this is a man
19:12of science, we must accept that it is a
19:16miracle.
19:17And sure, you can chalk it up to luck or
19:21surgical brilliance or some anatomical
19:24anomaly,
19:26but at the end of the day, you have to
19:28explain how a woman with her neck sliced
19:31open, her abdomen gutted, and a 40minute
19:34ambulance delay is alive and signing
19:38forms. Yes, signing forms.
19:43Because when Dr. Angelov handed her a
19:46consent form before surgery. Allison
19:49wrote her name clearly. She even added
19:52her mom's phone number underneath.
19:56This is a great story as it stands. A
20:00woman taken at knife point
20:03and stabbed so many times that even
20:05doctors didn't think she'd be able to
20:07survive. And yet she did.
20:10There's just one problem, though. She
20:12survived. Yes. But this didn't mean she
20:15was safe. Her attackers were still out
20:18there. Could they come to the hospital
20:21and finish the job once they learned
20:23she'd survived?
20:25The police definitely needed answers,
20:28and Allison was the only one who could
20:30give them.
20:32The night after her surgery was
20:34touchandgo, so much trauma, not only
20:38initially, but then the trauma of having
20:40to go through hours of surgery. Would it
20:43be enough? Would she survive the night?
20:47She did.
20:49But now she had to take on another
20:51battle. Justice. The police needed
20:54names. So they came to see her.
20:58Detective Inspector Melvin Hamill, who
21:01would become a major ally in this case,
21:04visited Allison and brought along a
21:07photo lineup. As she looked at the
21:10pictures, she found them, pointed them
21:13out and wrote down their names.
21:18France and teens.
21:21You'd think that would have been enough,
21:23right? Here's their pictures. Here's
21:26their names. She wrote them down for
21:28God's sakes. But the prosecution didn't
21:31think that would be enough. They wanted
21:34verbal confirmation. Yes, verbal
21:38confirmation.
21:40They said it would make the case
21:42stronger in court.
21:44One problem though, in order to speak,
21:47Allison would have to have her breathing
21:49tube removed. A incredibly inserious
21:54risk, especially with the fresh stitches
21:56that she had in and around her neck.
21:59Dr. Cummings was horrified, and I'll
22:02admit, when I learned this, I was too.
22:04They couldn't wait until she had healed
22:07some more, until she had the ability to
22:09speak. Were they not going to go after
22:11these guys unless she had said their
22:14names?
22:15That's a sight of cruel that you don't
22:18often see.
22:20But Allison, when she realized this,
22:23wrote, "Take it out."
22:26So her doctors did. And after removing
22:30her tube, she first said, "That's
22:34wonderful."
22:35And then said, "My attackers were France
22:39and teens.
22:42It's what the prosecution wanted. They
22:44got it." And a survivor, mutilated
22:47beyond belief, had just named the men
22:49who did this to her. And I know I
22:51mentioned this earlier, but here's the
22:53thing. France had already been arrested
22:56for before, not once, twice. He was
23:00walking around free. The same is true of
23:03teens.
23:05The first woman they attacked took a
23:07week before reporting it to the police
23:10because they threatened to kill her if
23:12she did. The second woman who was
23:15pregnant, yes, pregnant, ran straight to
23:18the police and reported it right away,
23:21even after she too had received death
23:24threats.
23:26By the time the two men had gotten to
23:28Allison, they had decided that this time
23:30they would just kill her, reduce the
23:33risk of her telling anyone.
23:36The police found France and teens and
23:38brought them into the police station.
23:40They were read their rights and when one
23:42of the investigators got France alone to
23:45speak with him, he told him that he's
23:48being charged for attempted murder. That
23:51one single word, attempted.
23:56So he asked why attempted murder
24:00and he was told that Allison was alive.
24:05According to the investigator, you could
24:06have knocked him over with a feather.
24:10And here's something we don't hear every
24:12day from criminals, at least in the
24:13American justice system.
24:16France pretty much just gave up at that
24:19point. Said that he knew there was
24:21nothing he could hide from the police
24:23because Allison would tell them
24:24everything. He then took off a ring that
24:27he had on and handed it over, saying
24:31that it was Allison's.
24:33It still had her blood on it.
24:37France, it turns out, was married with a
24:39child. He would leave his place and head
24:43out with teens to go innocent women.
24:47Then came the trial.
24:50And you might be surprised to learn that
24:52the trial was 5 to 6 months after the
24:57attack on Allison.
25:00Five to six months. That's it.
25:04The thing was, even though Allison had
25:06survived,
25:08all that she did, she still was required
25:12to undergo multiple invasive exams
25:16by different cops in different rooms,
25:19having her pubic hair pulled for
25:21evidence, having to strip down so that
25:24officers could photograph the healing of
25:26her wounds.
25:28She never refused,
25:31but she shouldn't have had to be
25:33traumatized over and over like that.
25:38When it came time for a lineup, which
25:40was standard procedure in South Africa
25:42at the time, it required the victims to
25:46place a hand on the suspect's shoulder
25:49and have a photo taken.
25:52Let that sink in.
25:54You're supposed to physically touch the
25:57man who you mutilated you, left you for
26:01dead, and then pose for a photo.
26:06Allison's case changed all of that. Her
26:10investigating officer, Melvin Hample,
26:12was a huge supporter of Allison and
26:16didn't want her to have to do that
26:19thing, which frankly sounds barbaric,
26:22doesn't it?
26:23So he decided to try something new that
26:26had never happened in South Africa and
26:29pushed for a one-way glass lineup. It
26:32was the first time that it's ever been
26:34used in South Africa and today it's
26:36standard because of her and what
26:38investigator Melvin Hamble pushed for.
26:42She identified them again
26:46for the third time. And then finally, it
26:51was the actual trial. Allison had to sit
26:54in the same room with the men who had
26:57violated her and attempted to kill her.
27:01When in court, France sat there staring
27:05at her like he was trying to intimidate
27:07her. He even testified that he was a
27:11Satanist. claimed demonic possession.
27:15When it was all said and done, the judge
27:18handed down the harshest sentence
27:20possible, life in prison. He even added
27:24a special note in their records saying
27:27they should never be released.
27:30This is not something that he had done
27:32before or since.
27:35South Africa had just abolished the
27:37death penalty, but he wanted it made
27:39clear that if it had still been legal,
27:42he would have definitely considered it.
27:45For Allison, the verdict was justice,
27:48yes, but she still said it best when she
27:52said, "They took something from me I can
27:55never get back." The bad guys were
27:57caught. They were tried and sent to
27:59prison. But that didn't mean that
28:01Allison got her life back. Recovery for
28:04her wasn't some, you know, feelgood
28:07montage. It was pain every single day
28:12and not just physical pain. Her
28:14abdominal wound had to be scraped on a
28:17regular basis until it bled just to coax
28:21new tissue to grow. She couldn't bathe
28:24herself. She moved back in with her mom
28:26who became her full-time caregiver.
28:29Eventually though, the scars began to
28:32heal and Allison tried to get back to
28:35life, but she couldn't. She spiraled
28:40into depression. The kind of depression
28:42that just doesn't care. She stopped
28:44going to work. She stopped calling
28:46people back. She didn't care if she ate.
28:49She wasn't suicidal. She was detached
28:53until it finally hit her that she was
28:56still giving France and Ten the power
28:59over her life. So she made a choice
29:03again. Just like the night she walked
29:06herself up the road. She chose to live
29:09again.
29:11The turning point for Allison came when
29:14a local Rotary club asked her to speak.
29:17just a short talk, share her story.
29:21She didn't want to. Public speaking was
29:23one of her biggest fears growing up.
29:27But she did it anyway. And when she was
29:30finished,
29:32she felt better.
29:35So she spoke again and again. She found
29:39purpose in it. Not just in giving others
29:43hope, but in taking her own story back.
29:46She started traveling and sharing her
29:49message. Here's the thing, though.
29:51People, boy, they do love a comeback
29:54story, don't they? They want the person
29:56who had suffered so much to be healed.
30:00But Allison made it clear. There is
30:02never a finality, a point where I am
30:05healed. That's what people want for me.
30:08It's what I want for me, but it's not
30:11real.
30:13Once again, Allison defied all odds. Her
30:17injuries to her abdomen were so bad that
30:21she was told she would not be able to
30:23have children.
30:24Yet, she did.
30:27Two healthy pregnancies and two healthy
30:31boys.
30:33Years passed and she had found her
30:37purpose and the path for her grew a
30:40little bit brighter every day.
30:43until she learned that France and Tins
30:47might be up for parole.
30:51Let's back up. When the judge sentenced
30:54them, he added a note to their files,
30:56never to be released. And yet somehow
31:00there was talk of early release.
31:04Make it make sense. Everyone who had
31:08been involved in Allison's story, who
31:10had tried to move on with their lives,
31:13were all of a sudden once again drawn
31:16back into that black hole that they had
31:19all tried to climb out of, especially
31:22Allison.
31:24Then it was learned that France was
31:27having a full-blown social life from
31:29inside prison. He was posting on
31:32Facebook. He was messaging women. He
31:35even had a girlfriend in America. And it
31:38was this girlfriend's mom who contacted
31:41Allison directly begging for help.
31:45Let's be clear here. This is a convicted
31:49serial rapist with multiple victims
31:52surfing Facebook like it's Tinder.
31:56Media reports show that France was
31:59active on Facebook from prison on his
32:01phone. Yes, a freaking phone in prison
32:05and maintaining a social presence.
32:08And when Allison did the right thing,
32:11when she emailed the prison authorities
32:14asking them to investigate, and please
32:17don't tell France that it came from her,
32:20they printed her email and gave it to
32:23him.
32:25A survivor reports her own rapist
32:28breaking prison protocol
32:30and the system hands her over.
32:36The public record does not provide a
32:38clear date or show that this was tied to
32:41a parole decision at the time. But what
32:44we do know is this. It was July of 2023
32:49that both men were granted parole after
32:53serving nearly 29 years of their life
32:56sentences.
32:58They were out in public again.
33:02And the outrage was tremendous and never
33:07let up. In the meantime, just when you
33:10thought Allison had dealt with more than
33:13a human being ever should,
33:15in September of 2024,
33:18she woke up with a headache, the kind
33:21that you might shrug off, except this
33:23one was different. She collapsed at home
33:26and was rushed to the hospital.
33:29Scans showed a brain aneurysm.
33:33She couldn't speak. She couldn't move.
33:36She was in intensive care in Cape Town
33:39and doctors told her family that the
33:41road ahead would be very long. Rehab,
33:45speech therapy, the one thing she loved
33:47to do, speak about what happened to her,
33:50had been taken away.
33:52In the meantime, her attackers are
33:54roaming free, out on parole. The public
33:57was still infuriated, and even
34:00politicians paid attention. Imagine
34:02that.
34:04In February of 2025,
34:07Minister Peter Grunal announced the
34:11parole was cancelled.
34:14He said the minister's primary
34:17consideration is the imperative of
34:19protecting and securing the community,
34:22particularly in instances where acts of
34:25violence against women and children have
34:27been committed.
34:29It shouldn't have taken that long, but
34:31you know, credit where credit's due. The
34:33system finally did the right thing and
34:35as of now France and teens are back in
34:39prison right where they should have
34:40stayed all along.
34:43Ironically it was that same month that
34:46they were sent back to prison that
34:49Allison had improved enough to leave the
34:53rehab center and come home even though
34:56her therapy continues.
34:59This isn't a
35:01happy ending moment, you know, it's
35:03another chapter, and I think that's
35:05important. Sometimes the most courageous
35:08part of survival is admitting that the
35:12fight isn't over. I am in awe of
35:15Allison's continuing choice. Not just to
35:19survive again, but to live again.
35:24If nothing else, her story reminds us
35:26that the system can fail. Men can betray
35:30trust.
35:32But one human can still say no and stand
35:36anyway. And that defiance of matters.
35:40There's a few places that I want to
35:42point you to where you can read or watch
35:46more about Allison's story because I
35:49know that there's not a lot of coverage
35:51that gets done outside of the United
35:54States. Um, and I'm guilty of that. I
35:57don't often do that myself, but oh my
35:59gosh, her story, her story just had to
36:03be told. And I don't know that you have
36:06ever heard about Allison before. Um, but
36:10it was important. It was important to me
36:13because she is one hell of a woman.
36:18There are a couple of places. I'm going
36:20to have them in the show notes. There is
36:23a documentary about Allison that you can
36:27watch. It was created in 2016 and it has
36:31Allison as her older self in there.
36:35She tells the story in her own words.
36:39There was also a book written about her
36:43journey and what happened to her and
36:46I'll have a link to that as well. And
36:49there are also a couple of places that
36:52you can go if you want to help Allison
36:56along her road of rehabilitation. She
36:59has lost the ability to speak, so she
37:02cannot bring in money for herself to be
37:05able to
37:07live. Please consider donating to her
37:10trust account or any one of the links.
37:13I'll have a couple of them in the show
37:15notes. All funds go towards her therapy,
37:18her care, and her medical needs.
37:21Thank you all for listening. I'll be
37:24back soon. Bye for now.
37:37>> [music]
37:46[music]

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