ABC profiles a survivor of a brutal attack who survived against all odds.
Monday Australian story profiles Lauren Huxley, a survivor of a brutal attack who survived against all odds.
“It’s been 20 years, but you never forget it. You never get over it.” – Christine Huxley, Lauren’s mother.
Lauren Huxley was an 18-year-old TAFE student when she was brutally beaten by a stranger and left to die in her suburban home.
Doctors put her in an induced coma and expected her to die.
But miraculously, the teenager pulled through and managed to learn to walk, talk and eat again.
That incident twenty years ago, the manhunt that followed and her incredible recovery kept Lauren’s face in the newspapers and on our TV screens for years.
“She survived on her own courage and her own determination, but a family unlike anything I’ve ever encountered,” said journalist Ray Martin, who covered the story at the time.
Now Lauren and her family face a new fear.
Her convicted attacker, Robert Black Farmer, who has never pleaded guilty, will be eligible for day release starting in November. He can apply for parole next year.
“That is always very confronting for the victims and their families, especially in situations where there is no remorse or contrition,” said the detective who investigated the case, Detective Inspector Jason Dickinson.
“It’s a bit worrisome and disturbing,” Lauren says, “because he almost took my life; he almost killed me.”
As Farmer nears the end of his sentence, Lauren, her family and the police who investigated the case look back on a crime that changed them forever.
This is a powerful story about the lasting effects of trauma, the power of love and family, and survival against all odds.
Producers: Tracey Kirkland and Olivia Rousset.
Mondays 8pm on ABC.
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