Last week I posted a blog, a brief appeal, in aid of a woman brutally assaulted, and while I knew there would be many who stepped up to donate to the cause, I was unprepared for the outpouring of sympathy and donations. I have a personal stake in this, knowing the individual, but I am completely humbled by the generosity of those who are literally strangers to the victim.

Kim remains in a drug induced coma, her family at her bedside, and her loyal followers grow in number. She is by no means out of danger; her injuries are extreme and should she pull through with enough strength to tackle a road to recovery her future is fraught with reparative surgery, not to mention the emotional damage. How does one recover from something so horrific? On one hand you pray she regains consciousness to help identify the assailant. On the other you mercifully pray she never remembers the horror of what she endured at the hands of such a beast.

Police have posted a video of a ‘person of interest’ seen following the victim on the evening of her disappearance and are appealing to the public to help identify them. Someone knows him and it would be in the interest of all citizens to see that this individual is apprehended because as long as he remains at large there is a very real threat to the safety of innocent people. The only disappointing thought to his capture is the knowledge that our judicial system will ensure his safety. He will never suffer the agony he inflicted on his victim, and therein lies the injustice. I struggle with the need to see an ‘eye for an eye’, but the world doesn’t need another vigilante.  And I feel so strongly that he should be damned to eternal hell, but I am not God, and it is not my place to pass judgement.

So all we can do is pray for Kims’ recovery, physically, mentally, and spiritually. To those who kindly shared words of support and encouragement, and to those who so generously donated to her cause, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. It is the kindness of strangers that  restores our faith in humanity and gives us all hope.

There’s a place in heaven for people like you.