13 Real-Life ‘I Survived’ Stories That Will Horrify And Fascinate You
Singleton pulled out a hatchet and hacked off Mary's left arm right below the elbow.
Kathy Kleiner, Karen Chandler, and Cheryl Thomas
In 1978 Kathy Kleiner, Karen Chandler were sorority sisters of Chi Omega at Florida State University and Cheryl Thomas (all girls were 21) was a student at FSU as well. On January 15th in the early hours of the morning, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy broke into the Chi Omega house and brutally murdered two of the sisters before attacking Kathy and Karen. Bundy broke Kathy’s jaw, knocked out several of her teeth, and deeply lacerated her shoulder. Karen suffered a concussion, a fractured skull, broken jaw and teeth, and was covered from head to toe in gashes from the club Bundy used to beat her. It was later determined Bundy murdered the two sisters and beat Kathy and Karen in under 15 minutes and without waking 30 potential witnesses before fleeing the scene.
After disappearing from the Chi Omega house Bundy broke into the basement apartment of Cheryl Thomas, where he dislocated her shoulder and fractured her jaw and skull in five different places. Bundy left behind a semen stain on her bed, a pantyhose “mask”, and hair samples. Cheryl suffered permanent deafness and a balance disorder as a result of the attack, which ended her dreams of being a professional dancer.
Ted Bundy was eventually executed for his countless murders in January of 1989. His true number of victims was never discovered.
Kathy Kleiner’s recovery after the attack was long and extremely painful as she had to have her jaw wired shut for over 3 months. At the time of the attack she had been majoring in interior design, but never returned to school. She had a son from her first marriage, and became engaged again after her divorce.
Karen Chandler married an engineer and had two children.
Cheryl Thomas eventually went back to school and completed her bachelor’s degree in dance, and went on to receive a master’s degree in deaf education. She opened a ballet studio, got married and had a daughter, as well as focused on teaching and mentoring other deaf individuals.