This year’s Walk Against Family Violence will be held on Tuesday 19 November. Meet at the Dandenong Market at 11.15am and walk to Harmony Square to hear from guest speakers.
Join the walk and help us send the message that Greater Dandenong says ‘No to Family Violence’.
This year’s key speaker is victim survivor Simone O’Brien, who was attacked by her ex-partner shortly after she called off the relationship.
Simone said she had no experience of domestic violence until the 2012 night when her ex-partner turned up at her Brisbane home and beat her with a baseball bat. Looking back there were red flags, but at the time, she could not see the signs.
She sent a text message to her partner on the Monday morning explaining why she wanted to end the relationship, but ignored the hundreds of text messages that came back across the workday.
Arriving home at 6pm, Simone’s daughters were cooking dinner and the three were discussing their days when there was a knock at the door. It was her ex-partner – a man family and friends had previously described as a ‘gentle giant’.
The attack was witnessed by her then 12 and 15-year-old daughters, but the brave actions of her neighbours helped Simone survive and her attacker held to account.
Placed in an induced coma and taken to hospital, Simone’s daughters and her 10-year-old son were called to the hospital in the middle of the night and told to say their goodbyes. But Simone kept fighting.
During the 10-minute attack Simone was hit 45-50 times to the right side of her head. She has fractures all through her skull.
She has had more than 50 operations since that day 12 years ago and is now blind in her right eye including a shattered jawline, she has lost her sense of smell and has an implant on her right cheek bone.
After the perpetrator was sentenced to 15 years in gaol, Simone discovered he had been married twice before and had three children.
“I shouldn’t be sitting here talking to you about domestic violence, because I am a third wheel. He actually assaulted both of those (ex-wives), they didn’t report it… that’s my emphasis to anybody report, report, report. We need to protect everyone from these perpetrators.
“I’m a prisoner in my own body for the rest of my life, but instead of dwelling on things I have turned my experience into a positive,” she said.
Simone now travels the country talking about her experience and encouraging others to look out for any little red flags and report all incidents of violence.
She even speaks to perpetrators, some of whom have told her they regret their actions and the effects it has had on their families.
