LAURA ABBOTT: Good morning, everyone. Alright, today we're going to follow up about mental health.
I had been very socially involved in my community. After what happened to me, I thought I would be better off dead than alive, because the emotional trauma was so intense. We were on a weekend getaway. Supposed to have been a good time. He looked at me with a look I've never seen before, and I thought, "He's going to try to kill me." He ran over me multiple times with a truck and left me for dead. It was about a year and a half before I ever really laughed or smiled.
LESLIE BOONE: Laura's very strong, she's tenacious, and she's a gentle spirit. And she's done a lot of work to be resilient and to go forward with life.
LAURA ABBOTT: I did not want to give a victim impact statement because I did not want to see or be around my husband. But the prosecuting attorney said, "It will change your life." And all of a sudden, I started to get my voice back. I wasn't just a witness in a case that could be discredited. What I had to say was valid and what I had to say was important in the process. So I started on the journey to help other people find victims' rights information.
My sisters and I have created the group Victims' Rights Arkansas. We use it to raise awareness on victims' rights legislation, not only in Arkansas, but around the United States.
LESLIE BOONE: It is what is amazing about her. She's sitting at home, still rehabbing, and started typing out emails to all the legislators for people to come together to help make some changes in our laws.
LAURA ABBOTT: Social media has been a game changer. People find me on Facebook now. We want people to be informed about what it could look like for Arkansas to have enforceable victims' rights. So it has become very much an awareness and education piece. Do we provide direct services such as going to court with victims? Yes, we do. But what we really like to do is take the victim service providers that are already there and partner the victims with those groups.
I think victims coming together, victims sharing their story, helps lead to the reform. And I wanted people to know, it's not forever, what happened to you. It's not forever. It's a line of demarcation, but it's something that can be a catalyst to move forward and do so much better for other people.
