SURVIVOR OF DOMESTIC ABUSE REVEALS THAT SIRI SAVED HER LIFE
Last Monday (September 11), Emma-Louise Kelly, a mother of one, joined hosts Ed Balls and Kate Garraway on the ITV show Good Morning Britain. She told the story of how her phone informed the police when her ex-partner was physically abusing her during a night out.
She started by revealing how drastically things went wrong that evening: "We went out for a date night and everything was totally fine".
"He went home to take the car, and we went to meet some friends for some drinks, and when he came back from that, he was just different. He was getting possessive and jealous about other people who were saying 'happy new year'; he wasn't happy with any of it."
In retrospect, Emma-Louise saw several "red flags" regarding her partner's increasingly abusive behaviour toward her.
She clarified, "On the night when he changed, I opted to go home separately from him, even though [he] was jealous about things that he wanted me to wear and stuff like that."
"As soon as I entered, he began verbally attacking me before turning aggressive. I was being strangled, kicked, and punched until I blacked out. Then there was sexual assault, which was horrifying." In response, Kate asked if she believed that this was her last moment.
"Yeah, I knew that I needed help. I didn't know how I was gonna get that help because it was just relentless, and I kept passing out, and all I could think about was my little girl and making sure that I was OK for her. So I shouted to my phone - I use it a lot when I'm busy, when I'm cooking - and luckily it connected and [the police] literally came and saved my life."
It took around 20 minutes for officers to arrive at the property, where the perpetrator remained. Emma-Louise apparently didn't know if her plea for technological assistance would be heard.
"It happened really quickly. I wasn't sure if it would work, so I started yelling at my phone and Alexa. I know I use it to call people and connections, but I was in such a desperate situation that I wasn't sure whether it would work. He presumably believed it wouldn't work if I hadn't told him, but he smashed up all the Alexas just in case. However, my phone was in the room's corner when I finally located it, so it connected from wherever I had yelled."
After the attack, Emma-Louise's partner ultimately entered a guilty plea and was given a sentence of nine years and four months at Preston Crown Court last month (August 14). He will serve three years on a license after serving a six-year, four-month jail sentence.