13 Real-Life ‘I Survived’ Stories That Will Horrify And Fascinate You

Krystal Surles

In 1999 10-year-old Krystal Surles was staying at a family friend’s house in Del Rio, Texas with her 7-year-old sister while they waited for their family to move with them from Kansas. Krystal was staying in a room with 13-year-old Katy Harris, the daughter of the family keeping the girls, as her sister slept in the other room.

On the night of December 31, 1999, Tommy Lynn Sells broke into the Harris house and stabbed Katy multiple times before slashing her throat. Krystal, hearing her friend scream, woke up to watch Sells murder her friend with an 11-inch butcher knife. She tried to hide against the wall of the top bunk where she had been sleeping, but as Sells went to leave the room he turned around and spotted her. Sells reached over, grabbed Krystal, and slit her throat.

Krystal crawled across the floor and tried to comfort her friend, but realized she couldn’t speak. Her windpipe had been slashed and a vocal chord nicked during the attack. She recalled realizing she need to get out of the house, so despite being in just her pajamas and having no shoes, walked to the neighbors’ house and banged on the door for help.

Krystal was rushed to surgery and upon waking up, provided enough of a description to investigators that they were able to identify Sells. She would later immediately pick him out of a photo lineup while still in the hospital. When Sells was arrested he said, “I’m glad I finally got caught – I was tired of doing this.”

9 months later, Krystal took the stand to testify against Sells for her own attempted murder and the murder of Katy she had witnessed. The jury deliberated for only an hour before convicting Sells on all counts. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2014.