A mum who was attacked with a machete after three men burst into her home said she was willing to die to protect her children. Ashley Reilly, 35, suffered appalling injuries as she was slashed by the weapon as her home was invaded.
The terrifying ordeal began in the early hours when she woke up after hearing the front window of her home being smashed. She urged her children, son Benji, 14, and daughter Vogue, six, to find cover. During the attack that followed, her assailants hacked through a wardrobe she used as a shield, cutting the tendons in her wrist and ankle.
The incident at her home in Lanark, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, happened at around 4am on Monday, May 2 as her children looked on, the Daily Record reports. A Police Scotland spokesperson has confirmed enquiries into the incident remain ongoing.
Ashley told the Record: "They were swinging the machete about, up and down at me. I didn't even realise I'd been hurt - I was shouting at them the police were coming and they ran off.
"I was just thinking of the kids. I would die defending them, so I didn't feel a thing.
"Then I looked down and I could actually see my leg bone sticking out. Then I thought 'I need to shut that.' I tried to pull my leg together so the kids didn't see."
Ashely credits her survival to son Benji, who phoned for help as she tried to close the gaping wound in her limb, and a police officer who kept her awake and talking while waiting for an ambulance.
Police arrived minutes later and gave her first aid while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
The mum told how one local officer kept her conscious and speaking: "He saved my life. He needs a medal and I want to get him a bottle of whisky.
"He wrapped up my wounds, held my hand, and told me I wasn't going to die. He was telling me how he remembered me growing up. He said I was a wee bugger and had a little laugh.
"He kept me talking and kept me calm by was asking me about the kids and what I'd been up to. But in the ambulance, I saw him crying. I think he wasn't sure I would pull through. He was trying to give me the chance to speak to my kids - to say goodbye.
"I thought 'That's it - I'm going to die here'."
It was only after she had been treated in hospital that Ashley was able to take stock of her injuries - a 15cm (5.9in) bone-deep gash in her thigh, a 13cm (5.1in) cut to her shin and deep cuts to her left foot and right hand.
Surgeons aren't sure if she will be able to keep her middle toe, which was also gruesomely hacked at during the attack.
She said: "I don't want vengeance. I want to get justice and to see these people locked up. They don't deserve to be free for what they did to me - especially in front of my kids.
"I don't want them hurt or in any pain. They've got mums, daughters, kids, and that would make me as bad as them. No, I want them to go to jail and look themselves in the mirror and think about what they've done to me and my family.
"Vogue has been talking about it at night, asking if I saved her life, telling me what she saw.
"Benji's told me he was scared they would go through me and then do him in. But I keep telling him he saved my life."
She thinks local thugs had taken a dislike to her partner because he is English and says the violent attack on her was their revenge after she confronted them.
She also believes they watched her home from a white car in the days before the assault.
She has since fled Lanark for her and her children's safety, she has vowed that she won't be frightened into silence.
Police are continuing to hunt for her attackers, who are believed to have gone to ground and fled Scotland.
In the days after the attack, Detective Sergeant Derrick Lunan, of Wishaw CID, said: “The motive for this assault has still to be established, however, we believe that the suspects, for whatever reason, targeted this particular address.
“Officers have been carrying out enquiries since the attack and are keen to trace a white car seen in the area between 3.50 am and 4.10am on Monday morning.
“If you have any information that will assist officers with their enquiries, or may be have dash cam or doorbell footage from Monday morning, then please contact officers at Wishaw CID via 101.
"Quote reference number 0511 of Monday, 2 May, 2022 when calling."
