Tuesday, May 19, 2015

She believes her prayers were answered

In January, 2012, Melissa Dohme of Clearwater, FL, was dating Robert Lee Burton, Jr.  She told him it was time to break up, and he asked to come over and give her a farewell hug. But instead of hug, Robert stabbed her neck and face, not once but 32 times. Bystanders called 911 and minutes later firefighter-paramedic Cameron Hill found her on the pavement outside her home. "It was so bad you couldn't tell she was blond," he remembered. Hill loaded her into a helicopter that flew her to a hospital. During three weeks, she flat-lined four times and suffered nerve damage that partly paralyzed one side of her face, but to everyone's surprise, she recovered. She left rehab walking, determined to become a nurse.  After she fearlessly faced down her attacker in court, Burton was sentenced to life without parole. In 2013 she told WFLA, "By a miracle I'm still here."


In the fall of 2012, Melissa spoke in a church as an advocate against domestic violence. Two of her first-responders were in the audience. One was Cameron. They hugged and planned to meet again. "I had this feeling about him," she said. This month, representing Hands Across the Bay (a non-profit supporting Tampa Bay families) Melissa was invited to throw the first pitch at a Tampa Bay Rays game,  As she approached the mound, Cameron ran out to give her the ball. On it were four words. "Will you marry me?" When she said yes, the crowd roared approval and the public address system played wedding music. Melissa managed to accept Cameron's proposal, admire her ring, kiss him, and still throw the first pitch. He caught it, and returned the ball to her with an armful of roses.

"If you believe there's good in the world, then you'll find it," she said in 2013. "I believe (Cameron) is the answer to my prayers that I've prayed all the time."

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