A Florida teenager and rising softball star broke her silence Saturday after her boyfriend allegedly brutally stabbed and paralyzed her in June.
Madison Schemitz sustained multiple stab wounds, some of which damaged her spinal cord, in a June 3 attack allegedly carried out by her ex-boyfriend, 18-year-old Spencer Pearson. The Ponte Verde High School senior had recently broken up with Pearson, a former football player, according to the New York Post. Pearson had allegedly been following and harassing the softball player since April 2023.
Pearson not only stabbed Schemitz, but also stabbed her mother and a Good Samaritan named Kennedy Armstrong, who rushed to help the two women during the assault. Schemitz, reportedly stabbed 15 times, was forced to undergo multiple surgeries for her injuries which have left her paralyzed, according to WTSP. (RELATED: Good Samaritan Pummels Crazy Man Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend In Broad Daylight)
“Regarding my recovery, I am currently paralyzed from the chest down,” Schemitz said at a press conference. “It will be a long and hard road but I am determined and confident in myself that I will reach my goal to one day walk again,” she continued, adding that she was “going to be okay.”
The teen took time to thank the medical team who have been with her “everyday” throughout her road to recovery and took special care to thank Armstrong for saving her life, telling reporters he “is and forever will be” her hero and that she considers him to be part of her family.
“I believe there is no looking back now. Everything happens for a reason. I am incredibly lucky to be alive today. I will take each day as its own opportunity to live and make a difference in the world,” Schemitz continued, telling reporters she plans on starting a One Love Foundation chapter at her high school to raise awareness about unhealthy behaviors and relationships.
Pearson is facing two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for the alleged assault, the New York Post reported.