A lot of times we hear stories and wonder in amusement if the stories are true as they sometimes sound so unbelievable. Meet a young lady whose story sounds like fiction but sadly, is real. I read her story on @miraclesandmesses and just had to reach out to her to come share her story with the world.
CONTENT WARNING: Please note that there are pictures that you may find disturbing.
My name is Jynnie Ashley Kent. I am 26 years old born 26th of October 1992. I am the youngest of four siblings. While growing up, I lived in Pickering, Ontario. My street was called Tatra Dr. My childhood was not a regular one growing up. My parents were drug addicts. There was also violence and abuse in the home.
I suffered sexual abuse which at the time, my parents knew nothing of. I was from a poor home, we could not afford nice clothes and due to this, I suffered bullying in school as I looked dirty and also was not up to date with the styles trending. On several occasions, I was beaten up by kids from school. I was once stabbed on my throat with a pencil, to show how much I was disliked. Even though I endured a lot of pain as a child, I always held my head high and had a positive view of every situation. Though I have a few friends, the ones I made as a child are still my best friends till date.
On October 26th, 2003, I was viciously mauled by five of my grandmothers bull mastiff dogs, leaving my entire body scared. When my grandfather realised what was happening to me in the backyard, he came to my rescue. At the point he came to help me, I was on the verge of giving up. In the process of the attack, the dogs had ripped off most of my clothing (I had winter clothing on). It had rained so the ground was muddy. I was covered in blood and mud, so, when we arrived at Uxbridge hospital and was placed on a stretcher, the nurse kept asking if I was a burn victim as I looked completely black. The Uxbridge hospital did all they could on me before flying me to Sick Kids hospital in Toronto, Ontario.
I suffered 13 tears all over my body, had over 150 puncture wounds, about 1,000 stitches inside and outside of my body. I had a skin graphing repair on my lower right leg, suffered severe blood loss and was hospitalised for three months. On the first night at the Sick Kids hospital, the doctors found that the dogs had torn the main artery in my right leg and that there was no pulse. The doctors decided that they would amputate my right leg to the hip but later decided to call in a vascular surgeon by the name of Dr. Rubin who came in and took over the procedure. After ten hours of intensive surgery, he was able to find a vein in my left leg and used it to repair the artery in my right leg after which he got a pulse. Thanks to Dr. Rubin, he saved my leg.
I had intensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation, I learned to walk again. I still have to see my vascular surgeon (Dr. Rubin) every six months (for the rest of my life) due to the artery in my right leg. I have to be careful with certain activities as I am at risk of an artery collapsing in my right leg which would then lead to the leg being amputated to the hip.
I am very grateful to be alive. As a teenager, I hid my scars from everyone. I had social anxiety and battled with low self-esteem. I believed no one would ever love me because of my scars. I suffered bullying because of these scars, some kids in high school called me a ‘dog chew toy’. Some even go as far as saying the dogs should have just killed me.
Depressed and not knowing where to fit in, I turned to drugs to ease the pain. Eventually, I got tired of hiding behind long clothes and self-harming. I no longer wanted to hide behind the walls I had built around me.
My name is Jynnie Ashley Kent and I am Sparkling through and through✨
Social Media: Instagram –@ jynuhysahrkogirl
Twitter –@ Jynniek
Join us next week to read the rest of her story, until then stay Sparkling and keep smiling.
iSparklenow 