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Slashed with the knife I gave him

Hamilton teenager Krystal Abey speaks out for the first time since the court case

As she wrapped up the 21st birthday gift, teenage model Krystal Abey smiled at the thought of her then-boyfriend Cyril “Champ” MacDonald opening it. She knew Champ would love the presents she’d bought him – a large diving knife, and a T-shirt with a glamour photo of herself printed on the front. Not even in her worst nightmare could Krystal (20) have imagined that, just a year later, that same razor-sharp knife would be slashing through her flesh and her blood would be splattered across the T-shirt.

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Last october, after a disagreement at Champ’s Hamilton flat, Krystal ended up with a deep knife slash on her forearm, a stab wound in her stomach and a large chunk of her thumb cut away. Surgeons operated on her for seven hours to try to repair her horrific wounds but it wasn’t just physical pain she had to go through. There was also the distress of giving evidence about the incident when Champ went on trial at Hamilton High Court last month, charged with her attempted murder.

The prosecution said that after Krystal broke off their live-in relationship, Champ attacked her with the diving knife before slashing his own wrist. But Champ told the jury that Krystal was wounded while struggling for the knife in a bid to stop him killing himself. As a result, he was found not guilty of attempted murder and a lesser charge of wounding with intent to cause bodily harm.

“I never expected this,” Krystal says of the verdict. “oy mum thought I was going to die and, now, the result of the court case has been another painful blow for me and my family.”

Krystal was just 15 years old when she fell for Champ. “For the first 18 months of our relationship, we were happy,” she says. The young couple moved in together last year when Krystal began university. But Krystal’s feelings changed when Champ became over-protective. “He was very controlling. I felt I wasn’t allowed to do a lot of things,” she says quietly.

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She tried to break up with Champ on several occasions but always gave in to his pleas for her to return. Then, last year, she decided to leave him for good. “He thought it was just like the other times and that I would go back to him. It wasn’t until I started moving my stuff that he realised I was serious.”

Champ took the break-up badly, and bombarded Krystal with text messages, begging her to come back to him: “I need you, I can work on trusting you. Would you not want to be with me if I absolutely cherished you and cared for you like I should have?” – he wrote to Krystal, in text language. “I want you back and more than that, I need you. I’d do anything. Find it in your heart, please. I’d do anything for you. I can’t live without you.” But Krystal was adamant it was over and there was no going back. “If I hadn’t left, then I would be stuck in a relationship where I wasn’t free.”

Days before she was injured, Krystal says Champ damaged her car. He offered to fix it, so she drove to his flat. By the end of the encounter that followed, the fl at was splattered with blood, Krystal had slash and stab wounds, and Champ had cut one of his own wrists. At the trial Krystal described how, during the ordeal, Champ told her, “Don’t worry, we’ll be together in heaven soon.” Champ described in court how he wanted “to take my own life in front of her to show her how much I had been hurt.” But he insisted he never intended to harm her.

Despite many hours of surgery, Krystal has not regained the full use of her thumb due to nerve damage and she is worried what her injuries will mean for her modelling career. “The surgeons had to give me a skin graft on my wrist, and took the skin from my bikini  line, leaving another scar,” says Krystal, pointing out the golf-ball-sized graft.

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But despite the scars and the shock of the verdict, the young student is determined to put the horror of her ordeal behind her. Krystal wants to encourage other women in difficult relationships to get support. “It’s important that friends and family keep an eye out for signs that someone is feeling unsafe in a relationship and assist them to seek help,” she says.

Krystal hasn’t spoken to Champ since the incident and lives in fear of meeting him. “When I think of what happened, it hurts me,” she says. “It’s a very sad situation. But I know I have to carry on with my life.”

If you or someone you know feels trapped in an abusive relationship, phone the Family Violence Helpline on 0508 384 357

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