"Being a victim is not a choice, but becoming a survivor is." -Kimberly Corban
At a college-area apartment in Greeley, CO in the early morning hours of May 12th, 2006, stood a man determined to conquer his prey. Though he had visited the exterior of the building many times over the past week, hunting the girls inside under the cover of darkness, this was the night he studied the ground-level window and made the decision to force it open just wide enough to slither inside.
As he silently crept through the living room, finding his way to the end of a narrow hall, he slowly opened the door facing him. There, fast asleep in her bed, lay 20-year-old Kimberly Corban, oblivious to the threat looming over her.
Just as this stranger had fantasized for so long, he knelt over his victim’s body, carefully placing a dark shirt over her face. Startled from her sleep, Kimberly tried to sit up, but he pushed her back into her pillow, whispering coldly into her ear, “Shut up”. He could feel the fear washing over her as she struggled to draw short, jagged breaths.
He knew his time had finally come.
He held all the power.
He was in control.
At 6:56AM on May 12th , 2006, Kimberly Corban made her first desperate, crackling phone call to dispatch screaming for help, asking officers to please hurry—to save her.
The prior two hours had been the longest and most terrifying of her young life. At only twenty years of age, she was forced to look at the pure evil ignited in the eyes of a stranger and try to accept the fact that her life was about to end. Quick thinking and the ability to convince her attacker his crime would stay within the four walls of her apartment is what ultimately tempted evil to leave her home. But Kimberly's ordeal was far from over. She immediately called police, and in the months that followed, placed her faith in the criminal justice system to lock this monster behind bars--unable to harm anyone else.
Kimberly bravely released her name to the media upon her attacker's conviction and began spreading her message that being a victim is not a choice, but becoming a survivor is. Her steadfast will to survive and protect herself, her children, and others from being victimized has lead her on a harrowing journey over the past decade. Her fight for our constitutional right to self defense has dubbed her the "modern face of gun rights" among mainstream media. She is an example of our greatest fears, yet embodies the true strength and resilience of a hero, giving a voice to victims who do not have their own.
Today, Kimberly is the person she so desperately needed in 2006. She is a mother, a daughter, a sister, a partner, a fighter and a survivor.
If you take nothing else away from Kimberly's experience, remember her story. Not of what happened to her that morning ten years ago, but what that morning made her.
Brave. Determined. Strong. Courageous.
A survivor.
As he silently crept through the living room, finding his way to the end of a narrow hall, he slowly opened the door facing him. There, fast asleep in her bed, lay 20-year-old Kimberly Corban, oblivious to the threat looming over her.
Just as this stranger had fantasized for so long, he knelt over his victim’s body, carefully placing a dark shirt over her face. Startled from her sleep, Kimberly tried to sit up, but he pushed her back into her pillow, whispering coldly into her ear, “Shut up”. He could feel the fear washing over her as she struggled to draw short, jagged breaths.
He knew his time had finally come.
He held all the power.
He was in control.
At 6:56AM on May 12th , 2006, Kimberly Corban made her first desperate, crackling phone call to dispatch screaming for help, asking officers to please hurry—to save her.
The prior two hours had been the longest and most terrifying of her young life. At only twenty years of age, she was forced to look at the pure evil ignited in the eyes of a stranger and try to accept the fact that her life was about to end. Quick thinking and the ability to convince her attacker his crime would stay within the four walls of her apartment is what ultimately tempted evil to leave her home. But Kimberly's ordeal was far from over. She immediately called police, and in the months that followed, placed her faith in the criminal justice system to lock this monster behind bars--unable to harm anyone else.
Kimberly bravely released her name to the media upon her attacker's conviction and began spreading her message that being a victim is not a choice, but becoming a survivor is. Her steadfast will to survive and protect herself, her children, and others from being victimized has lead her on a harrowing journey over the past decade. Her fight for our constitutional right to self defense has dubbed her the "modern face of gun rights" among mainstream media. She is an example of our greatest fears, yet embodies the true strength and resilience of a hero, giving a voice to victims who do not have their own.
Today, Kimberly is the person she so desperately needed in 2006. She is a mother, a daughter, a sister, a partner, a fighter and a survivor.
If you take nothing else away from Kimberly's experience, remember her story. Not of what happened to her that morning ten years ago, but what that morning made her.
Brave. Determined. Strong. Courageous.
A survivor.
"Kimberly Corban was the victim of a brutal attack, but rather than let that define her she chose to fight for her second amendment rights." |
"Kimberly, obviously your story is horrific, and the strength you've shown in telling your story and being here tonight is remarkable." |
"This brave woman voluntarily shares the story of her horrific event so that other women do not have to experience what she did." |