In "Falling with Wings: A Mother's Story," Dianna De La Garza recalls a time when a heated altercation between her and her first husband, Patrick Lovato, turned bloody. De La Garza remembered confronting Lovato about his alcoholism, and in response he threw her across the room to where her "face smashed against a leg of the sofa." She then tried to make a run for it but when Lovato slammed the front door on her, evidently, two of her fingers "sliced open like a piece of fruit."
A surgeon reattached De La Garza's pinkie finger, however, he said her wedding ring finger had "too much damage" and tossed the remains. "I didn't know what was worse," De La Garza lamented in the memoir, "the throbbing pain from the tourniquet squeezing my arm, the disappointment that my one finger would never look normal; or the realization that a small, damaged part of me was discarded like garbage."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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