DAYTON — It’s been three months since a local security guard was nearly beaten to death during a brutal attack.
News Center 7′s Mike Campbell sat down for an exclusive interview with Gloria Courtney about her story of survival on News Center 7 at 5 p.m.
Courtney worked for five years at locations around Dayton as a guard for Merchant’s Security.
Nothing could prepare her for what happened when a man prosecutors identified as James Fickling walked in and pulled a fire alarm.
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“I could tell something was wrong the minute I laid eyes on him,” Courtney said.
Courtney didn’t know Fickling’s name then.
“I went to tell him we needed to get out of the building, not knowing he was the one that pulled the alarm,” she said.
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Courtney said that she simply wanted to get Fickling, and everyone else, out of the building due to the fire alarm sounding.
She noticed he had removed his clothes as she walked toward him.
“He attacked me and I struggled with him, I think they said, on-camera, for four minutes,” Courtney said.
She said she was carrying her large water container.
“I hit him over the head with my canister and he fell to the floor and almost instantly got back up,” she said.
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Courtney said he suspected right then that the man might be under the influence of some type of drugs.
“He was saying water, he needed water, he wanted water, he just kept saying, ‘I needed water, I need the water,’” she said.
“We struggled again, somehow, the next thing I knew I fell to the floor, when I came to, I was in Miami Valley Hospital,” she said.
The attack on Courtney cost her the sight in both eyes. She also suffered a skull fracture, a badly damaged cheekbone, a cut on her head that required eight staples and bruising over her entire body.
“There’s some people that told me they would have fallen apart, broken in many pieces, they wouldn’t be able to deal with it,” Courtney said.
Courtney said her road to recovery began just with her will to fight and then survive and live.
She got help from firefighters who responded to that alarm.
“If he didn’t pull the alarm and attacked me, I probably would not be here today, if that alarm hadn’t been going off, so I thank God for the people that showed up,” Courtney said.
Courtney is now fighting to encourage and inspire others, no matter what kind of setbacks they face.
“I woke up not sad, and it was surprising even to me,” she said.
Courtney has been a member of the Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Church for over 20 years and just resumed attending a month ago.
She credits her faith for carrying her through this dark time.
“I didn’t want to be blind to be honest with you, I am tired of this physical darkness,” Courtney said.
Courtney said she’s felt intensely loved by her family, and her church family, despite occasional down times and periods of questioning.
The support has inspired her, and she is inspiring others.
“I didn’t wake up angry, I didn’t wake up wanting to avenge anybody for what happened to me,” Courtney said. “If my temporary blindness is to lift someone up, encourage someone, then this is what it is all about.”
Courtney encouraged her caregivers at Miami Valley Hospital for two weeks, the same for workers at a Youngstown rehab facility.
She even tried to lift up her three children and five grandchildren.
“They don’t need to see how weak and depressed I can be, they need to see how strong I am,” she said.
Courtney believes telling her story is her new purpose in life. To stay so positive required a step involving the man accused of attacking her.
“I think I would tell him, that through all of this, I forgive you, that does not excuse him, yes, I think he deserves to be locked up where he is at, to learn his lesson,” she said.
Courtney said God let her live and healed her, so she’s not ruling out restoring her eyesight as well.