When the illusion of safety is shattered: How one survivor of a violent crime copes with physical, mental injuries a year later
“The physical part gets very hard in the beginning, just the healing, it takes time. But the PTSD, it doesn t go away, says Susan Angotti. Author: Chris Latella Updated: 3:56 AM MST January 22, 2021
PHOENIX She remembers talking to a neighbor outside her home. Seeing another neighbor jog towards them. Her next memory is of a paramedic treating her while she laid on the street.
What Susan Angotti doesn’t remember is how then 44-year-old Todd Mertens punched her in the jaw so hard, it sent her flying in the air, landing on the back of her head. She doesn’t remember how another neighbor fought Mertens off her, before Mertens could continue to pummel Angotti.