SAN ANTONIO – The pictures tell the story of a former life -- the high school cheerleader, a teenage mother, a young woman finding her way in the world, until she says the man she loved severely abused her.
"I knew right then and there that if I didn't pull myself together and do what I had to do, I was going to die," says Chanel Garcia.
At the age of 22, Garcia's life changed in an instant, caught in an allegedly abusive relationship she had tried to get out of, but couldn't. She hopes those in a similar situation learn from her example that she only got out after suffering an injury from which she will never fully recover.
"I got up and tried to run, and he caught me by my neck and hair, lifted me up and body slammed me on concrete," said Garcia.
The force of the impact paralyzed her from the neck down.
"I told him, 'Brian, I can't move, I can't feel my body.' I was crying to him, telling him, 'Please, please, I can't feel my body,'" said Garcia.
For an hour she would lie paralyzed, a prisoner of the man she says hurt her, her boyfriend Brian Quintanilla. While he panicked over what he had allegedly done, she made a decision that saved her life -- she lied.
"I ended up telling him, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have made you mad and it's my fault.' I told him, 'I love you, but please call the ambulance, you know I can't breathe,'" said Garcia.
Quintanilla called for help, and Garcia passed out. It was the last time she has seen him.
Chanel spent almost two months at University Hospital after the attack in April. She has been trying to rebuild her life and her body ever since.
Quintanilla is being held at the Wilson County Jail.
"Sometimes I still don't understand why, why me? I don't understand what I did to deserve this," said Garcia.
She doesn't call herself an abuse victim, but a survivor. She's also a fighter.
Garcia has been in and out of the hospital, undergoes therapy and rehab, and will likely be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She said she is staying strong for her kids, and for those going through what she did. She is also eagerly awaiting her day in court.
"I really hope to see him, just because I want him to see what he did to me. There's times where I just want to, you know, curse him out and yell and scream and ask questions, but at the same time, you know, I really don't have anything to say to him. You know, what's happened has happened, and he's going to pay for it, and I'm going to keep going," said Garcia.
Garcia wants women or anyone in an abusive situation to learn from what happened to her, to get out before it's too late, and to know there are resources and people who will help.