By DAVID NAGEL
TWO people had brain explosions in Brisbane on the night of 25 September 2012 – one sits in a prison cell while the other has decided to open up her life to help others.
Glenn Cable is the man behind bars, convicted and jailed for 15 years for the attempted murder of Simone O’Brien after he brutally bashed her with a baseball bat.
Almost four years later Simone was the guest speaker at the Doveton Football Netball Club’s White Ribbon Day luncheon on Saturday.
Cable’s vicious attack on Simone, who he had met online just seven months earlier, played out in front of Simone’s daughters, Gabby and Ash, and left her with horrific injuries.
Her top jaw was smashed. Her nose and right cheekbone were broken, along with both eye sockets and her skull was shattered, so badly, in fact, that her brain was exposed.
One of the first people to help, her neighbour Karen Roper, has since described Simone’s head as “mush” as she held it together until medical help arrived.
Simone now happily shares her horror story under the banner of the White Ribbon Foundation to help raise awareness in a national campaign to stop violence against women.
The story of Simone’s relationship with Cable goes like this.
She had been divorced from her husband Trevor, father of Gabby and Ash, and son Zac, for four years before deciding to go online.
She matched with Cable, the pair agreeing to meet and pretty soon they became an item. But that warm fuzzy feeling changed quickly.
Cable became jealous of Simone’s children and friends and became controlling and manipulative.
He even lied about his finances. Simone dumped him, he came back. He later proposed to her in front of her children.
But the lies and jealousy continued to the point where Simone rang him to tell him their relationship was finished for good.
Within 10 minutes, in front of her own flesh and blood – she was almost dead in a pool of her own.
“I remember one of my daughters asking ‘will he come to the house, mum,’ and I said ‘no’,” Simone said in front of silenced Doveton and Pakenham players.
“But he came back within five minutes and I was attacked.
“I woke up in ICU a month later, my children had to say goodbye to me twice because the doctors didn’t think I would survive the first 48 hours.”
The bones in Simone’s left arm, which she had used as a shield, had broken through her skin, she had lost the sight of her right eye, her sense of smell, and couldn’t open her jaw more than two millimetres. She has since had her face rebuilt with titanium and has one more operation to go to complete her current objectives.
“It’s been a four-year recovery and I still haven’t come to terms with a lot of things just yet,” she told her audience.
“My goal in life is to wake up every day, smile, and be positive and look towards the future. Telling my story is all about raising awareness.
“My main message to you males is that it’s very important that if you have a friend in trouble that you speak up and not let anyone else go through what I have been through.”
Simone has one other goal that is keeping her focussed.
“This year it’s to run a marathon in October and to never give up, to keep fighting each and every day of my life.”
Anyone experiencing issues with family violence should call the 1800Respect line for advice and counselling.
