'Plan And Get Out': Domestic Violence Survivors Share Their Stories During Vigil For Victims

April Rider is still trying to wrap her mind around the abuse she's endured.

She's one of many people in attendance at a vigil for domestic violence victims on Wednesday.

Many stories are about people who didn't survive their abuses. April said she almost didn't make it herself. 

"I've got a rod here and 12 screws up my shoulder," Rider said. "And then of course the thyroid bone that was broken here."

Her ex-boyfriend Lonnie Replogle is currently serving time for kidnapping and domestic assault and battery.

Since 2017, April said she's feared for her life.

"He hates women," Rider said. "He did things like hold me down and stick thumbs into my eyeball."

April said law enforcement didn't always believe her due to her struggles with addiction.

She said the stigma around domestic violence is still hard to deal with, especially when so many ask why she didn't just leave. 

"You get frozen, the terror of someone wielding your life in their hands. And you know, it is something that's so overpowering that a simple question is degrading," Rider said.

Rider believes she would be dead today had she not finally gotten the courage to escape.

She shared one piece of advice to others in similar situations. 

"Plan and get out," Rider said. "They're going to try it, they will use you financially, they will use any manner to make you stay, including death. And when you leave, that is the most dangerous time."

See below for various resources for domestic violence situations in Green Country.