Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Girl, 6, saves her mother’s life by telling teacher of horrific abuse at hands of ‘Satan’ dad
going to die’. It was two hours of beating with a large rolling pin.
“I felt so ill and that’s when my organs started packing up. When I got to hospital, staff thought I’d been in a car crash and they were in tears. I said ‘no this is my husband who did this’.” Keegans attacked on December 22 last year after taking a rolling pin out of the drawer.
“He swung his right arm back and beat me with it,” said Jodie.
“He punched me, bit me and stamped on me. He ripped my hair as he told me he hated me. I honestly thought I was going to die, I was so scared and it hurt so much. “His whole face changed, it was like he was the Joker from Batman.
“He beat me so badly, even on the soles of my feet, so I couldn’t walk.
“It only stopped when he was tired and he told me to go to bed. At 9am the next morning, he told me to get up and go into the kitchen where he started to beat me again.”
The mum-of-three only escaped after police arrived at her door two days before Christmas and he fled.
They had been involved with the family since their daughter spoke out.
Jodie said: “As soon as I saw them I knew this might be my only chance.
“I did something I’d never done before, showing the two police officers my injuries and simply said, ‘I think I’m a victim of domestic abuse’.
“The female officer said, ‘Yes, you are. I’ve never seen anything like this’.
“I guess that was the first time I had actually admitted what was happening.”
Jodie had a broken shoulder, a ripped ear, nine shattered ribs and six spinal fractures, She was covered in bite marks and had clumps of hair missing.
She had previous leg and arm breaks, a broken thumb, infected foot and the soles of her feet were cut and bruised.
“The doctors also told me I was at risk of lung and organ failure,” she added.
“I had 95% bruising to my body and had to stay in hospital for five days over Christmas and to be honest, it was the best Christmas I had ever had.”
Jodie, of Doncaster, South Yorks, wed Keegans in 2009 on Halloween and celebrated with a horror-themed wedding in a haunted pub. She was dressed was the Corpse Bride.
Jodie said: “It started off really good, he was a great partner and father in the beginning but about three years ago, his possessive behaviour escalated.
She said: “My daughter is my superhero for being brave enough to tell her school, which is when support services first became involved. She really did save my life.” DC Steve Barnes said: “This has been one of the most horrific cases of domestic abuse I have ever seen during my time as a police officer.”