'It was dark around 11pm and the only way to get back to my accommodation was by crossing the cliffs.
'I
went inside a tourist shop and asked for help back to my hotel. They
said it was dangerous to do at night so they told me to follow one of
their workers.
'I didn't
get the best feeling about him but I was tired and wanted to get home.
I'd been travelling for 16 hours so I guess I wasn't feeling myself,' Ms
Gavios said.
She recalled how she followed him up a trail and kept asking 'is this the right way?'.
'While we were walking he grabbed me and was holding me down and trying to take off my clothes.I started
punching him in the face and beating him up and biting off his ear. I
was biting his ear so hard it almost came off. His ear was half torn
off,' Ms Gavios said.
'He
was in pain and asked me to stop, so we shook hands and he stopped but I
was still nervous and he was still trying to harass me so there was no
choice but to run.
'I started walking back to where I came from. Once there was distance between us I started running.'
She fled but blindly ran off the edge of a cliff edge in the darkness.
'It
was pitch black and before I knew it I was in mid air falling off a
cliff. I was honestly thinking I wouldn't survive,' she said.
'I hit my head a few times and landed with a big bump. I was screaming in pain. It was the most painful thing ever.
'I felt like a total vegetable. I felt completely vulnerable. I couldn't move anything.'
Ms
Gavios - who has waived her anonymity - fractured her spine and smashed
her head on the way down before she landed crippled at the bottom of
the cliff.
To
her terror her attacker - a Thai local named as Apai Ruengvorn, 28 -
scrambled after her and sexually molested her as she lay helpless.
'He heard me screaming and moaning and he came down and climbed down the mountain and starting crying and praying.
'He
was feeling very guilty. I was begging him to call for help. He got on
the phone and started calling and I thought somebody was coming but
nobody came.
'I
was stuck with this crazy person. I was in the woods in the bushes with
wild snakes crawling on me while he was still continuing to harass me.
'He got on top of me. He took of his pants and masturbated on me.
'He didn't rape me but he did everything else. I really thought I was going to die.
'I
honestly didn't know what to do. I just had to remain calm. whenever I
screamed he was choking me so I had to try to keep cool and stay
friendly with him.
'As soon as it got lighter I started calling for help. He kept saying "no police no police",' Ms Gavios said.
After
a couple of hours Ruengvorn left but then returned later with other
people who raised the alarm and Ms Gavios was rescued and taken to
hospital.
She
is now being treated at Bangkok Hospital in Phuket and Ms Gavios's
parents have flown from their New York home to be at her bedside.
Ruengvorn has admitted the sickening attack last Thursday evening and is now facing several years behind bars.
Ms
Gavios said: 'I'm taking one day at a time. But I'm really glad my legs
aren't broken. I want to stay in Asia and return to teaching in
Vietnam.
'The police have told me that the man will stay in prison for between five and ten years.'
Pictures in local media show Ruengvorn staging a crime re-enactment pointing to the spot where Ms Gavios fell.
He was been charged with committing obscene behavior toward another person and causing serious injury.
Lt
Songpol Bunchai confirmed Ms Gavios's story and added: 'The suspect
admitted that he became aroused and tried to molest the woman.
'She was frightened and ran away to escape him. She fell down the cliffs.'
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