After being stabbed 32 times by her ex-boyfriend, many medic's thought Melissa Dohme would not survive, except for one hero who helped save her life. INSIDE EDITION has their bittersweet story.
A frantic 911 call was made from a witness as a young woman was being savagely stabbed.
Caller: This man just stabbed some woman in the street.
The operator asked: “When did this happen?”
Caller: “Just now, I watched him kill her. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”
Cops arrived to a bloody scene where a 20-year-old woman was stabbed 32 times by her ex-boyfriend.
Melissa Dohme is now speaking exclusively to INSIDE EDITION about her horrific ordeal.
INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander asked, “Is it a miracle you survived?"
She said, "Yes, it is a miracle."
Alexander asked, "Did you ever think the guy you dated would try to kill you?”
She said, “Definitely not.”
Dohme began dating Robert Burton during her senior year of high school. To her, he was a 6’4” gentle giant.
“He was funny and very sweet,” she said.
She was a straight A student in Clearwater, Florida, and says her boyfriend became jealous when she planned on attending college.
She said, “He put his hands around my throat three times. If I broke up with him, he told me he'd kill me and kill himself.”
In January 2011, she was sound asleep when she got a call from Burton at 2:00 a.m. with one request. She said he told her, “All I want is a hug. Two minutes of your time. I'll never bother you again.”
Dohme walked outside her mom's house to meet him. That's when Burton pulled out a knife and began stabbing her.
“The first stab was in back of shoulder. Second one was the back of neck. Third one was by my ear,” said Dohme.
The defense wounds can still be seen on her hands.
Dohme staggered to a neighbor’s house. Police found her bedroom slippers on the ground.
An emotional Dohme said, "I said, 'Don't let my mom walk out here. I prayed just to be saved.'"
Her mother, Joann, raced to her dying daughter and recalled, “I just kept saying ‘Please don't take my girl. Please don't take my girl.’”
Paramedic Jason Bihlajama fought to stop the bleeding, recalling, “I said, 'I don't think she is going to make it.'”
Firefighter and EMT Cameron Hill also responded and was the only one who believed she'd live.
Hill said, “I had that sense in my head that I would see her again.”
Dohme had lost almost all her blood. It was a miracle that she made it through the night.
She said, “I remember thinking I’m alive."
Still in critical condition, she flatlined four times. A stab wound severed a nerve in her face.
Pointing to her face, she said, “All of this doesn’t work anymore. Like I used to have a huge smile.”
She has documented her amazing one-and-half year recovery in photographs.
Robert Burton was arrested and pled guilty to 1st degree attempted murder. She stared him down in court.
Alexander asked, "Do you think he deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail?"
Dohme said, “Yes, I definitely think he deserves a life sentence.”
She now works in a local hospital and wasted no time thanking the first responders. She even revisited the ambulance where she fought for her life.
Then, something magical happened. Love entered her life in the most unexpected way from Cameron Hill, the firefighter who just knew she would make it. Sparks started flying and the two hit it off. What did she see in Hill? A handsome guy who came to her rescue.
Dohme told Alexander, "Completely the biggest crush on anybody I have ever had in my entire life."
What did he see in Dohme? A beautiful young woman and the essence of bravery.
"She continues to amaze me every day," said Hill.
The ex-boyfriend will be sentenced next month. He faces eight years in prison.
