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Student stabbed 32 times by abusive ex-boyfriend gets engaged to fireman who saved her life

A student who was brutally stabbed 32 times by her ex-boyfriend is set to tie the knot with a fireman who was part of the emergency services team that saved her life.

Melissa Dohme from Florida first met fiancée Cameron Hill when he came to her aid after the brutal incident in January 2012.

She was stabbed in the arms, neck, face and hand by Robert Burton, a man who had been her boyfriend since they met at high school when she was just 20 years old.

Melissa Dohme was attacked in 2012 (Picture: Getty)
Melissa Dohme was attacked in 2012 (Picture: Getty)

Speaking to the BBC, Melissa recalled how Burton’s behaviour had changed in the months leading up to the barbaric attack.

‘He became very jealous. He would belittle me and not want me to succeed’, she explained.

‘He would lie about things and if I confronted him he had an explosive temper.’

She's now found happiness with the firefighter who helped to save her life (Picture: Getty)
She’s now found happiness with the firefighter who helped to save her life (Picture: Getty)

Melissa eventually split with him after he attacked her in October 2011, which led to a charge of domestic battery and a 10-hour prison sentence.

But while she was ready to move on, Burton rang her at 2am on 24 January 2012 and asked to meet once more, so that he could have ‘closure’ on the relationship.

Melissa now describes her decision to visit him as the ‘biggest mistake I ever made’.

As she arrived, it appeared that his arms were outstretched for a hug. Instead, he pulled out a switchblade and began manically stabbing her.

She lost so much blood in the attack that she suffered a stroke, and ‘died on the [operating table] several times.’

She's now engaged to Cameron (Picture: Getty)
She’s now engaged to Cameron (Picture: Getty)

But in the aftermath of the attack, Melissa decided to speak out about her ordeal and soon met firefighter Cameron Hill after speaking at a survivors event.

‘I was weirdly giddy. I had this feeling about him,’ she said.

Cameron was even by her side when she faced her boyfriend in court as he was jailed for life, an event that she described as providing ‘closure’ on a horrific chapter of her life.

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Now, she has secured her own happy ending – after Cameron popped the question at a baseball game.

Describing her forthcoming nuptials, she said: ‘All he people that saved me, from the first police officer on the scene to the trauma surgeon, are coming.

‘Today I just feel very blessed to be here. I know that the attack was just one day in my life and it will never define me.’