Teacher breaks her back trying to escape sex attack in Thailand

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004
http://nypost.com/2016/09/06/teacher-breaks-her-back-trying-to-escape-sex-attack-in-thailand/

Teacher breaks her back trying to escape sex attack in Thailand
By Yaron Steinbuch
September 6, 2016 | 11:05am

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Hannah Gavios in Thailand during her trip
Photo: Facebook


A 23-year-old Queens woman broke her back falling 150 feet down a cliff in Thailand during a desperate attempt to flee from a sex attacker, according to a report.

Hannah Gavios got lost at Railay Beach in the resort of Krabi on Sept. 1 — a day after arriving in the country — and sought help at a local tourist shop. A worker at the store offered to help her get back to her hotel but instead led her up a pitch-black mountain in the jungle, where he attacked her.

“I really thought I was going to die,” the Bayside woman said, the Daily Mail reported. “It was dark around 11 p.m. and the only way to get back to my accommodation was by crossing the cliffs.”

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Hannah Gavios
Photo: Facebook


Gavios, who has been teaching in Vietnam :rolleyes:, said she didn’t have a good feeling about the man but relented because she was tired.

“I’d been traveling for 16 hours so I guess I wasn’t feeling myself,” she said. “While we were walking, he grabbed me and was holding me down and trying to take off my clothes.”

The horrified woman said she punched the crazed attacker — and also went for his ear.

“I was biting his ear so hard, it almost came off. His ear was half torn off :p,” she said. “He was in pain and asked me to stop, so we shook hands and he stopped but I was still nervous and he was still trying to harass me so there was no choice but to run.”

But the panicked and disoriented woman found herself tumbling off a cliff.

“I was honestly thinking I wouldn’t survive,” she said. “I hit my head a few times and landed with a big bump. I was screaming in pain. It was the most painful thing ever.

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Hannah Gavios
Photo: Facebook


“I felt like a total vegetable. I felt completely vulnerable. I couldn’t move anything,” said Gavios, who fractured her spine and suffered head injuries in the horrific fall.

To make matters worse, the pursuing monster — identified as 28-year-old Apai Ruengvorn — caught up with her and allegedly sexually molested the young woman as she lay helpless.

“He heard me screaming and moaning and he came down and climbed down the mountain and starting crying and praying,” she said.

She begged him to call for help. He appeared to call someone on his phone but no one showed up.

“I was stuck with this crazy person. I was in the woods in the bushes with wild snakes crawling on me while he was still continuing to harass me,” she continued.

“He got on top of me. He took off his pants and masturbated on me,” she recounted. “He didn’t rape me but he did everything else. I really thought I was going to die.”

Gavios tried to remain calm and avoid screaming to prevent him from choking her.

“As soon as it got lighter I started calling for help. He kept saying, ‘No police! No police!’” she said.

Ruengvorn left after a couple of hours, but returned later with other people who took the battered woman to a hospital, where her distraught parents have arrived to her bedside.

Ruengvorn, who has confessed to the shocking crime, was charged with committing obscene behavior toward another person and causing serious injury.

“The suspect admitted that he became aroused and tried to molest the woman,” police Lt. Songpol Bunchai said.

“I’m taking one day at a time. But I’m really glad my legs aren’t broken. I want to stay in Asia and return to teaching in Vietnam :headbash:,” Gavios said.

Gavios, who describes herself on Facebook as an English teacher with Globe Education Link, has been receiving messages of sympathy and support.

“Hi baby doll. Love you so much, and you are in my family’s prayers and hearts. We are pulling through for a perfect recovery,” Noura Salem posted on her page.
 
https://nypost.com/2018/11/04/queen...scaping-rapist-finishes-marathon-on-crutches/

Queens girl who fell off cliff escaping rapist finishes marathon on crutches
By Ruth Weissmann and Ben Feuerherd
November 4, 2018 | 11:48pm

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Hannah Gavios crosses the finish line of the New York City Marathon surrounded by supporters. William C. Lopez


The Queens native who fell off a cliff in Thailand while trying to escape her rapist courageously joined the tens of thousands of runners in the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Hannah Gavios, 25, who fractured her spine in the fall, battled her way through the 26.2-mile, five-borough course on crutches — and finished in 11 hours, just after 8 p.m.

Though most of the competitors had finished long before, she was still greeted by a crowd of well-wishers at the finish line.

“I didn’t expect this many people,” Hannah said, shaking with fatigue and crying. “It just shows my city has my back. My city is awesome, waiting for me here — I don’t know how long everyone waited for me — it just means so much to me that you guys stayed. Thank you.”

Two weeks ago, Gavios told The Post that she was participating in the event because “I’m going to be a functioning human — I don’t want to feel like I’m left behind.’’

After the race — which she finished in 11:20:32 — she said that her main thought as she competed was “Just getting through pain.”

Hannah was severely injured during a horrifying encounter with a would-be rapist in Thailand in 2016, as she fled him in the dark and tumbled off a 150-foot cliff.

She joined everyone from NYPD cops to celebrities to professional runners on the 26.2-mile course, which begins in Staten Island and ends in Central Park.

A close friend of slain NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo was among the runners.

Anne-Marie Dunn, 37, was wearing a bib featuring the precinct and badge number of Tuozzolo — who was shot and killed on duty in The Bronx in 2016, two years to the day before Sunday’s marathon — when Dunn crossed the finish line.

NYPD Sgt. Timothy Dowling was the first department cop to finish the race this year, with a time of 2 hours, 58 minutes and 9 seconds, according to records kept by race organizers.

Former “Desperate Housewives’’ TV star Teri "Banana Boobs" Hatcher also ran with her 20-year-old daughter, Emerson Tenney.

Hatcher finished in 5 hours, 51 minutes and 21 seconds, with her daughter 5 seconds behind.

Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber finished in 4 hours, 44 minutes and 47 seconds.

“I’m going to take a shower, then go get some beers,” Barber said after he crossed the finish line. “And maybe a big hamburger.”
 
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