She set out to row the 1,500 mile perimeter of Lake Michigan to raise money for breast cancer and ended up being sexually assaulted by a sub-human piece of garbage.
The Battle Creek native is raising funds for breast cancer survivors on a rowing team she runs in Chicago, but her own story of survival and perseverance has inspired readers around the country.
Gibbons began her 1,500-mile trip last month, making good time as she reached Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where she was attacked in the early morning hours of July 22 while sleeping on her boat near Mueller Township.
The 27-year-old chose to identify herself in the days following the assault, hoping the public would help find her attacker, who remains at large, and vowing to continue her trip by bicycle until she felt safe enough to return to the water. (MLive)
She was updating the status of her journey on Facebook so fans and well-wishers could track her progress, and that is also how the creep saw his opportunity, waiting until she was in a remote area to strike. She escaped the attack by locking herself in an outhouse and calling the police. The would-be rapist remains at large.
"I could focus on those few terrible moments," Gibbons wrote yesterday. "I could let those few minutes take away more seconds, more minutes, more days and weeks and years of my life. But I won't. Why? Because I have a choice." (MLive)
