BLACKSBURG, VA – “I wasn’t pronounced dead per say, but I definitely experienced something beyond this plane,” Mackenzie Rose said.
Seven years ago, Mackenzie Rose’s fiancé abducted and brutally attacked her.
“I picked up the chef’s knife, and it’s in my hand, and with his hand, he takes my hand and stabs me,” Rose said.
Could it have been mother’s intuition that her mother came by just in time to save her life? Rose thinks so.
Her mother disbelieves that her daughter didn’t die on the kitchen floor that day.
“I woke up in the ER with a balloon holding my throat open. I was unable to take anything in orally at this point. Within eight days, I completely shifted as a person,” Rose said.
Her story is a striking example of domestic violence, but the abuse didn’t start that day. Rose was in the process of leaving her fiancé when he attacked.
“The wedding was in November, the incident happened in August. It in some ways came out of the blue, but it also follows... It’s a statistic. When you try to leave a relationship that is indicative of abuse, it can lead to violence,” Rose said.
The attack changed her life - but Rose feels privileged to be where she is today.
“How have you begun to work through the trauma of all of this?” 10 News Anchor Abbie Coleman asked,
“I think it’s critical for me to say that I was in a position of privilege. I was in the hospital with resources, the detective on my case was so personable. Again, small town, so people knew what was going on and checked in on me a lot. A lot of people don’t have those resources,” Rose said.
After years of therapy, she’s ready to share her story her way - with a collection of poems and artwork detailing her attack and the days since.
“My therapist realized that my strengths were in writing. So when I was working through not only the therapies in which I could regain my actual voice but trying to figure out how to even spell it out. She asked me to start writing some things down,” she said.
Her book, ‘Post-Traumatic Poetry’, is deeply vulnerable, detailing the narcissism and abuse she first noticed, all the way up to the attack.
Her favorite poem is written about what her cats may have experienced.
“Maybe, they forged a new life, a cat-life, one of their nine lives, and they blessed it onto my broken body,” she read.
She never once names her attacker - who will be released from prison later next year.
“Names have a lot of power too, and in a way, it’s like you’re taking that power back by not saying his name,” Coleman said.
“He doesn’t deserve me saying his name,” Rose said.
She’s still healing, and carries daily reminders of the pain she experienced - but has a message for others who feel like they can never escape their abuser.
“I believe you. I believe you. You are strong and you know what to do,” she said.
Rose is hosting an exhibit titled, The Other Side: Expressions of a Trauma Survivor in Roanoke on November 1. Information for the event can be found here.
On November 2, Rose is hosting a healing arts workshop. All proceeds benefit area domestic violence assistance organizations. You can find information on how to register here.
Domestic Abuse Resources:
- National Domestic Violence Hotline - 800-799-7233
- TAP - 24/7 Crisis Hotline - 540-580-0775
- Salvation Army - Turning Point