A victim of horrific domestic violence is courageously speaking up about the harm done to her by her ex-husband, including the total blindness of one eye that resulted from him dousing her face in chemicals.
Due of her desire to talk openly in an effort to increase awareness of domestic abuse, Heather Cornelius’ tale initially became popular on the social media site TikTok.
She stated in a recent interview with PEOPLE that she thought her ex-husband was “calm and caring” when they were married in 2012. Although her friends warned her that he appeared domineering, Heather claimed that he had not displayed violent tendencies for nearly a decade.
She disclosed, “My sisters didn’t like him, and neither did my family.” “But I felt it was a good marriage for almost ten years.”
Unfortunately, when Heather joined the Coast Guard and started to become more independent, things took a drastic turn for the worst.
She claimed that “he started to become insecure.” He questioned her if she had ever danced with anyone at college parties, which led to a disagreement between them in November 2021.
He began “bawling” when Heather responded, accusing her of lying “for years” and threatening to file for divorce.
He continued by saying, “I’m going to leave,” indicating that he no longer wanted to be with me. Additionally, I’m bringing the kids along.” Heather stated. “I told him that although he is free to leave if he so chooses, he will never take my kids.”
From then, things got out of hand as Heather’s lover started abusing her sexually and twice choked her to death during sex.
After the aforementioned altercation in November 2021, Heather found the strength to leave, but she quickly came to the realization that it was nearly impossible to avoid his wrath.
“He had tracking apps on my phone, and he could track my car via the GPS,” the mother clarified. I didn’t have any money or nobody to call. I was in a powerless position. “I want you to come home,” he began calling me. No, I told him.
People claim that Heather stayed overnight in a public parking lot on November 24, 2022. Her spouse tried to persuade her to return home by driving to meet her the following day.
She claimed that while he was expressing regret and admitting that he didn’t know what was wrong with him, he was also threatening to tell the police that I had attempted to kill him and that I would no longer be able to see the children.
“I’m really glad we’re back here, and we’re going to make things right,” he stated when I returned home.
However, he made her an unexpected request when they got home: to lie on the floor.
“He told me to lie on the floor while I had my back to him. I didn’t try to resist, and I didn’t ask anything,” Heather remarked. “At that point, I followed his instructions just to finish the task at hand.”
She continued: “I followed his instructions. He had a white container and blue gloves on when I looked up. He shoved me back down when I attempted to sit up. He then proceeded to pour something into my right eye.
I was screaming and pleading with him to stop. I have no idea how I survived. I swear, in order for me to survive, God gave me permission to temporarily leave my body. He threatened to kill me if I didn’t keep quiet. He began putting it into my left eye after I fell silent. Then he was finished.
Right away, Heather’s husband started to make up a lie to get him out of going on a date. After bringing Heather to the hospital, he instructed her to act as though she had an accident using oven cleaner, saying, “You know you did this to yourself, right?”
Heather was informed at the hospital that her eyelids had practically “melted” off due to the chemical her husband had sprayed on her face. After being transported to Kansas City, she was placed in the intensive care unit’s burn unit at a level 1 trauma center.
She told people, “They kept asking what happened and I knew they didn’t believe what I was telling them.” “Everyone, including the nurses, kept urging me to share the truth, but I simply asked myself, ‘What if he kills the children and then himself?'” I couldn’t take that chance.
Heather was sent home following three facial surgery in a single week.
She remembered, “He never physically abused me again after that, and he seemed to like that I was dependent on him.” My right eye had to be surgically closed, and I lost sight in both eyes for seven months. My retina is still intact, but I no longer have a cornea to look out of because it has scarred over. In order to keep it safe, they have it covered.
Then the doorbell rang six months after Heather was discharged from the hospital.
She stated, “It was May 24, 2023.” When the doorbell rang, he left and never returned. He said that someone from my command was approaching, and I could hear him shouting at the police. “You can come with us voluntarily or involuntarily, but we need to question you,” stated two individuals under my direction.
“My work email was how they learned about it,” she continued. A few months prior to the event, I had composed a draft email to my mother. stating that I’m afraid anything will happen to me or the kids because things have grown so horrible. He shut off the Internet before I could send the email, but it was saved in my work email, which was the only thing he was unable to access.
Heather sought a psychological evaluation from Walter Reed while her children were placed in foster care.
“I was blind, taken, and unaware of what was happening with my children. At the time, I was essentially suffering from Stockholm syndrome,” she recalls.
“We can’t keep you unless you want help,” a psychologist at Walter Reed told Heather bluntly. However, if you return home—which may not happen tomorrow or anytime soon—he will kill you, and your children depend on you. Could we please assist you?
After spending “a few months” in trauma programs prior to adjusting to life on base, Heather explains, “I was [at Walter Reed] because they knew I needed to be kept safe, and had extreme trauma.” She was reunited with her kids in January 2024.
While the authorities were working on a case against her abusive husband, he relocated to Alaska. When police showed up at her house on November 1, 2023, they informed her that he had passed away.
“I try to describe it to people in this way: It’s like you’re walking in the woods, and you get lost,” she added, referring to her terrible experience. The others are aware of what is going on and are looking for a way to free you. However, everything appears the same, and you remain bewildered wherever you go. Sometimes things that are so close to you are invisible.
“I see what happened to me as part of God’s plan for me, and I’m accomplishing a lot of things that I never thought I would,” she continued. “I had a reason for surviving it. I don’t feel sorry for myself when I look in the mirror. I eagerly await each day’s dawn.
