A Philadelphia bartender’s harrowing story should be a testament to predators everywhere that if you’re ever urged to “grab [someone] by the pussy,” pussy will definitely grab back.
The Philadelphia Police Department is looking for a man who 30-year-old Jacquelyn Blough said sexually assaulted her while she was out with her friends at a bar she tends.
According to Philadelphia magazine, Blough and her friends were being chatted up by a group of men on the night of Oct. 28, when around 1:30 a.m., shortly before closing time, one of the men approached Bloguh from behind and forced his hand up her skirt, sexually assaulting her. And while there is no “appropriate” or “right” way for someone who has been sexually assaulted to react, Blough’s immediate response warrants a standing ovation: She turned around and beat the shit out of this asshole.
“He forcefully rammed his fingers up inside of me, out of nowhere,” Blough told the magazine. “It was awful. I spun around, and he looked at me and told me he was just kidding. So I put him in a headlock and beat him to a pulp. I’m a small woman and this huge guy couldn’t get me off of him. I beat him until he just couldn’t be beaten any further.”
Bar staff then threw the man out of the bar, and she went to the hospital—in the process of beating her assailant, she had broken three bones in her hand. She said she spent the next six hours at the hospital, which fixed her up with a cast to be worn the next four to six weeks.
When Blough got home from the hospital she said she tried to put the incident behind her in the days following, but ended up going to the 17th Police District in South Philadelphia on Nov. 1 to report the assault. She described her assailant as a stocky white male standing at 5’11” and around 40 years old, who wore a baseball hat, sweatpants, and a T-shirt.
“I was in bed with my mind spinning. I was feeling physically ill. I had so much anxiety, and I realized that this is not OK. This person should not be walking the streets. What’s he going to do to the next girl?” Blough said.
To add insult to injury, Bloguh’s broken arm has put her out of work since she can’t bartend and also doesn’t have health insurance. In the meantime, she’s looking for work she can do with her cast and has set up a GoFundMe page for her expenses, medical and otherwise.
“It’s just miserable. One nightmare to the next. All because somebody chose to be a horrible person,” Blough said.
Despite the series of events, Blough’s luck is looking up—her campaign is trending on GoFundMe, and more than 170 people have donated thousands in one day, already exceeding her $4,000 goal.
Blough did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
H/T Philadelphia