GREEN BAY (NBC 26) -- When she heard Tuesday’s news that a Green Bay woman, Babette Caraballo, was kidnapped and shot by her ex-boyfriend Luis Cardona, a local domestic violence survivor says she was overcome with feelings she hasn't felt in a long time: PTSD from her own experience.
On Friday, she opened up to NBC26 in the hopes of being a light to others in domestic violence relationships.
"I know how it feels like to be in a situation where you don't know if you're going to live or not."
Amanda Boeder says it's been 15 years since it happened to her.
"I was with a man that I had a child with, and I wanted to make it work,” says Boeder.
She left him in July 2003.
“And then he kidnapped me in his car a couple months later,” Boeder recalls.
Four months after that, he broke in to her dad's house.
"Took my dad, my brother and myself hostage, had us all tied up, zip ties, handcuffs."
Boeder says he cut the phone lines and poured gasoline on her dad. The SWAT team arrived outside the house.
"You don't know what this person is capable of doing and you just pray to God that if this is my time, that it just goes fast," says Boeder.
It's those memories that brought back so many emotions when she heard Caraballo’s story.
"The only difference in our situations is that she was shot and my family and I were not, thankfully. And my prayers have been with her every single day."
Relieved that Caraballo is alive, Boeder wants to bring others hope.
"I’m like ok, what can I do?” says Boeder. “And maybe it’s just getting on the news and sharing my story and maybe just being a beacon of light for someone, that there is light at the end of domestic abuse, that you can get out you can survive."
She says her message is to love yourself and know you are worthy of love and a respect, and that a relationship should not create fear.
"This is step number one of what I can be doing to bring awareness to these women to bring awareness that they can be strong and they can do it on their own, like it can be done, I am an example of that."
If you need to leave a situation, there are ways to get help and places you can go. Consult the links below:
