I woke up with Ted Bundy looming over me with log… he shattered my jaw & left me to die but I survived in stroke of luck
BRUSH WITH DEATH I woke up with Ted Bundy looming over me with log… he shattered my jaw & left me to die but I survived in stroke of luck
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
KATHY Kleiner Rubin was in her second year at university when she was mercilessly attacked with a log by depraved serial killer, Ted Bundy.
The Florida-born author is one of the few women to have survived an encounter with the sadist, who was later found guilty of rape, necrophilia, and murder.
11
Kathy Kleiner Rubin's first Christmas after she was attacked by Ted Bundy in 1978
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
11
Kathy (front right) with her Chi Omega sorority sisters
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
11
Theodore Bundy, more commonly known as Ted, waved to a TV camera following his indictment for the murders of Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman
Credit: Getty
Among his victims were 21-year-old Margaret Bowman and 20-year-old Lisa Levy, who were murdered just minutes before the 33-year-old launched his assault on Kathy.
Bundy was executed in 1989, when he admitted to murdering at least 30 women in his four-year-long reign of horror.
But his notoriety has lived on, with books and films often depicting the sadist as a charismatic killer who lured his victims with his good looks.
Decades later, Kathy has revealed how she has found peace by giving a voice to his victims and exposing Bundy's "true" nature.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, she described him as a "loser and a sociopath" who craved the world's attention.
NIGHT OF THE ATTACK
When Kathy was attacked, she was a second-year student at Florida State University, living in Chi Omega sorority house with girls 'who felt like sisters'.
She had spent the afternoon at a church friend's wedding but decided to head back early with her dormmate, Karen Chandler, to study for her calculus exam the following Monday.
The pair's room was not dissimilar to any other dorm room: two single beds pushed against opposite walls, separated by a small trunk and a large bay window with curtains that remained open 'all the time'.
When they turned the lights off at around 11:30pm, Kathy fell straight to sleep.
In the early hours of the morning, she awoke to the 'swish' sound of the carpet.
I'm a criminologist - Ted Bundy stood no chance against one particular type of victim, it's why he never targeted them
'I remember squinting into the dark, not wearing my glasses, and seeing this black shadow standing above me, looking at me.
'I was just waking up a little bit and he had that log in his hand.
"I can close my eyes and I can see my room. And I can see him standing over me. And this is something I'll never forget," she said.
Wielding the same log he had used to kill her two much-adored sorority sisters, and which he had stolen from the house's fireplace, Bundy struck Kathy's jaw.
The sheer force shattered the bone and splintered her chin - exposing her teeth and almost severing her tongue.
"When he hit me, my first feeling was like hitting a bag of potatoes. You know, it didn't hurt," she added.
But it wasn't long before adrenaline turned to agonising pain.
11
Kathy has found peace by giving a voice to Bundy's victims
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
11
Kathy struggled in the period after the attack but held onto her faith to keep her going
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
11
Kathy married Scott Rubin, who she has been with for over three decades and who has been a 'wonderful father' to her son, Michael
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
"It hurt so bad. The most intense pain I have ever felt," she recalled.
Moments later, a rustle in the neighbouring bed turned Bundy's attention to Karen.
Tripping over Kathy's trunk, he stumbled to his next victim, before mercilessly bludgeoning her too.
In a stroke of immense fortune, the pair were saved when a couple returning home parked up beside the sorority house.
I thought I was yelling and screaming for help but all I was doing was making gurgling sounds from all the blood in my mouth
Kathy Kleiner Rubin
The headlights flooded the room with light, startling Bundy, who ran away.
Kathy said: 'I was moaning and groaning and I thought I was yelling and screaming for help but all I was doing was making gurgling sounds from all the blood in my mouth.
'He came back over to my side of the room so I tucked myself into the smallest ball. I thought if he didn't see me, he wouldn't kill me.'
'He looked at me. He raised his arm up over his head, but just as he was about to hit me again, a bright light shone through our window,
'He got real antsy and started moving around. Then he ran out of the room."
I thought if he didn't see me, he wouldn't kill me
Kathy Kleiner Rubin
Whimpering, Kathy tried calling for help but managed no more than a few "gurgling sounds" through all of the blood.
Karen was able to stumble to get help as Kathy passed out from the pain.
She recalled: 'I woke up and a police officer was standing at the head of my bed looking at me.
'I touched my face and it was warm with blood. I was in excruciating pain – it felt like daggers and knives. But he just told me 'it's going to be OK.''
"I knew, having been so scared that this person was going to take care of me."
PATH TO HAPPINESS
Kathy never returned to university and spent the next nine weeks with her jaw wired shut at her parents' house in Miami.
Therapy wasn't an option for the young girl who was raised by Cuban parents, where sweeping problems under the rug was the "done thing".
Instead, her parents did all they could to help her physically recover and protect her from the trauma of what happened.
"My mum wanted to shield me from the news and hearing about my sorority sisters so she would take the newspaper and cut all of the articles out that would mention Bundy," she said.
One day they were a victim and the next day they became a survivor
Kathy Kleiner Rubin
Meanwhile, Kathy took "baby steps" to heal from the psychological wounds left from Bundy's attack - but also from the anger and sadness of leaving behind her freedom and friends at university.
She said: "I walked outside and felt the sun on my face and looked up at the trees and saw each individual leaf, that's part of the branch, that's part of the tree.
"And looking at the bugs on the ground and seeing how they interact. That's life.
"And I wanted to be part of life. I wanted to be part of what was so natural."
Kathy recognised exposure therapy would be crucial in her path to recovery so she got a job working at a lumber yard, where she would be surrounded by men everyday.
11
Kathy now lives in Florida with her husband Scott
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
11
Kathy said sharing her story with the world has helped her heal and connect with other survivors
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
While she grew progressively less scared, dark thoughts of a figure standing behind her lingered.
Leaning on her faith, she imagined herself walking away from the darkness - each day, taking one step closer to the "light" at the end of the road.
She has since co-authored a book with writer Emilie Lebau-Luchessi, in which she revisited in painfully vivid detail the events of that night.
Although challenging, Kathy said sharing her story with the world has helped her heal and connect with other survivors.
"They just need to know that one day they were a victim and the next day they became a survivor.
"That survivor has to live the rest of their life and they can talk about it and they can feel it but they shouldn't dwell on it.
"They need to move on and and not let this put them in a box but just take baby steps to heal themselves," she said.
11
Kathy graduating from high school
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
11
Kathy in 1990, almost a decade after the attack
Credit: Kathy Kleiner Rubin
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
11 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Letting my boyfriend choke me during sex left me bruised & terrified' – rise of deadly kink GLORIFIED to TikTok teens
Such is the concern that sex education in schools in England is set to change to include guidance on choking TOXIC TREND 'Letting my boyfriend choke me during sex left me bruised & terrified' – rise of deadly kink GLORIFIED to TikTok teens Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) FEELING her boyfriend's hands wind around her neck as he bore down on top of her in bed, nurse Paige Jones felt a rush of adrenaline. But that feeling quickly turned to panic when his grip became so tight she felt herself struggling for breath and starting to lose consciousness. 8 Paige Jones was choked by her boyfriend during sex and blacked out Credit: Paul Tonge 8 Paige's choking experience went too far, leaving her and her boyfriend shaken Credit: supplied "I was turning blue," she told The Sun. "It terrified both of us, and we stopped immediately. "Thankfully I wasn't seriously hurt, though I had a lingering cough and a bruise I had to cover with make-up." The couple's horrifying experience is far from an isolated incident, with social media sites like TikTok awash with disturbing videos and hashtags glorifying the deadly trend of choking during sex, a Sun investigation can reveal. One blonde influencer with millions of followers recently uploaded a video with the chilling caption: "How I think I look getting choked vs what I actually look like." The accompanying footage, showing a man's hand tightly gripping her throat, has racked up nearly half a million likes and thousands of comments. Such is the concern that sex education in schools in England will now include warnings to teenagers about the dangerous act's potentially fatal consequences. Experts are warning that children as young as 13 are being exposed to graphic content online that glorifies rough sex, including breath play - a dangerous act that can cause serious harm or even death. As well as being potentially fatal, strangling is linked to strokes, memory problems, seizures, incontinence, difficulty swallowing, depression, anxiety and even miscarriage. In extreme cases women have died at the hands of men who strangled them during intercourse. They include tragic Georgia Brooke, 26, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, who was fatally choked by Luke Cannon, 31, while they couple were having sex in 2022. Devastated Cannon took his own life the following day. Mum's chilling final moments before she was strangled to death by killer lover who claimed it was 'sex game gone wrong' 8 Georgia May Brooke, from Wakefield in Yorkshire, was choked to death in 2022 when a sex game took a sinister turn Credit: Supplied 8 Luke Cannon took his own life the day after accidentally killing Georgia Credit: Supplied Paige, 31, admits she used to enjoy 'rough sex' with her partner and encouraged him to choke her. "I love passionate sex - the kind that's intense, steamy and full of energy," she said. 'For me, that used to include hair pulling, spanking, and choking." Recalling the day her boyfriend took it too far, Paige says: 'His hands were around my neck and I started to lose consciousness. 'My partner felt incredibly guilty and promised he'd never do it again - it really shook us. 'Since then we've stuck to safer options, and we're both more aware of the risks involved." 'Wall of awfulness' 8 Fiona Mackenzie of We Can't Consent to This fears choking has been normalised Credit: Facebook 8 Experts fear choking is being promoted as sexy and fun Credit: TiKTok Fiona Mackenzie, founder of pressure group We Can't Consent to This, is among those calling for a crackdown on vile online content. She tells The Sun: 'TikTok has video after video of - usually young - women either simulating strangulation or saying, 'Strangulation is great.' "It's just this wall of awfulness. 'Young women have told us that this was the key way that [strangling in sex] has been normalised for them - through TikTok and other lighter platforms that welcome children.' Our probe found 28,000 videos on TikTok with strangulation content. One sick clip shows a man in a mask simulating strangling someone, with the vile caption: "Choking the life out of my victim." Another shows a man grabbing a woman by the throat, captioned: "I knew I was the problem when I love when he choked me [sic]." In a third, a young woman smiles to herself beneath the text: "Me remembering the last time I was choked!" Fiona adds: 'The idea that [as a child] you'd be exposed to these gorgeous young girls who are not much older than you, who are showing you how to get choked by your boyfriend, is monstrous. The idea that [as a child] you'd be exposed to these gorgeous young girls who are not much older than you, who are showing you how to get choked by your boyfriend, is monstrous Fiona Mackenzie 'We also found that if you type in choking or you see choking content, [TikTok] will then suggest search terms to you like breath play, asphyxiation and plastic bagging. 'These platforms are supposed to be moderated but they're just slow and often don't do it. 'Meanwhile parents just assume that it's fine for their teens to browse on TikTok, and that the algorithm will only show them stuff that they actually want to see.' Children will be taught that strangulation is a criminal offence under new sex education guidance published in England. Pupils will learn that applying pressure to someone's neck or covering their mouth and nose is illegal, even without visible injury. Alarming surge The updated sex education guidance - its first major overhaul since 2020 - urges secondary schools to address the alarming surge in the influence of the so-called 'manosphere' and incel culture, along with new forms of harm linked to pornography. Toxic influencer Andrew Tate has also been blamed for the alarming rise in young men chocking partners during sex, after posts promoting the idea of male dominance and sexual control online. Strangling is now thought to be the second most common cause of stroke in women under 40. A 2022 survey by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation found over a third of 16 to 34-year-olds had experienced choking - compared with 16 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds and three per cent of those 55 and above. 'Our research suggests it is now much worse,' Fiona says. 'There is this complete normalisation through social media and through porn that getting strangled is something that you should expect to be done to you." Fiona formed WCCTT in 2018 in response to alarming cases where women had been killed during allegedly consensual sexual activity, with perpetrators let off or handed light sentences by using the so-called 'rough-sex defence'. 8 Mum Victoria Thomas was strangled to death Credit: WNS 8 Victoria was seen on CCTV arguing with partner Alcwyn before she was killed Credit: Athena In August last year, Alcwyn Thomas, 44, tried to claim his partner's death was the result of "sex gone bad" when she had asked to be choked. Victoria Thomas, 45, was found dead in a spare bedroom at their home in Cardiff in the early hours, after the couple had been on a night out. Thomas had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine when he strangled her. He admitted manslaughter but denied murder. He was jailed for life in April after being found guilty of brutally "murdering" her. Dubbed the '50 Shades' rough sex defence, it was effectively scrapped with the Domestic Abuse Act of 2021, which clarified that a person cannot consent to being harmed for the purpose of sexual gratification. It also made non-fatal strangulation a specific criminal offence. Although it now carries a five-year prison sentence, in the year up to 2023, around 700 offenders were sentenced for non-fatal strangulation. 'Now if you go to court, if you go to the police, you're likely to get a better outcome than you did before,' Fiona says. 'But what we didn't manage to do was reduce how prevalent the strangulation of women is. 'It's everywhere. It's completely normalised. And women are humiliated for being vanilla or sex-negative if they stand up against it.' 'He seemed to enjoy my panic' By Sun Sexpert Georgie Culley I'LL never forget the moment I felt his hands snake around my neck. I was in my 20s, dating a handsome guy who seemed like the perfect catch - until his eyes glazed over during sex and he suddenly turned into a monster. At first I was shocked as his strong hands wrapped around my throat. We'd both had a few drinks and it took me a few seconds to realise what was happening. As I struggled to release his grip, he just tightened it. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak. But he seemed to enjoy my panic. I nearly blacked out. Afterwards, it hurt to talk. My neck was covered in red finger marks, which later turned into bruises. I had a sore throat for days. But worse than the physical pain was the emotional trauma. I felt violated and confused. How could someone I trusted - someone who was supposed to protect me - do that? Sure, we'd had rough sex before. But there's a huge difference between consensual kink and being choked to the point of unconsciousness. This wasn't exciting or playful - it was terrifying. It could have killed me. That's why I welcome the government's decision to teach kids that strangulation is a criminal offence in the new education curriculum. After my own terrifying experience, I feel passionately about educating youngsters after the dangers of asphyxiation. When I started investigating the rise of choking content on TikTok, it brought all those painful memories flooding back. It's extremely depressing that so many young people are being exposed to videos that glamorise this behaviour - without understanding how dangerous it really is. Scrolling through video after video of young women boasting about being strangled is truly horrifying. Explore your fantasies by all means - I'm The Sun's Sexpert, I believe in a varied and vibrant sex life - but there must be a line. Consent, communication and safety must always come first. Because what's fashionable online isn't always harmless - and sometimes it can be fatal. Read more from Sun Sexpert Georgie Culley. 'Shame' Orla Davidson, 26, was left with bruises around her neck after her partner strangled her during a sexual encounter earlier this year. The restaurant supervisor told us: 'We had a few drinks, went back to his and started having sex - then he began choking me. I did not give consent. 'His hand was pushing on the front of my neck with a lot of pressure, I remember thinking 'this is hard' - and then I don't remember a certain portion after that.' Two days later, bruises emerged around her neck that grew darker, which Orla hid with high-necked jumpers. 'There was a lot of shock and not knowing how to react to it, and feeling a weird kind of shame,' she recalled. 'I knew I should confront [the man] but didn't know how to have that conversation.' Orla confided in a friend who was 'shocked' by the bruising. 'She said, 'he f***ing strangled you.' I'd known it was bad but her reaction confirmed it. I'm definitely worried women are being subjected to similar things.' I knew I should confront [the man] but didn't know how to have that conversation Orla Davidson She is also concerned about the accessibility of normalisation of choking and violent content on social media and dating apps. Orla added: 'There's a lot of videos on TikTok, especially men telling the camera, 'I'm gonna choke you' as though speaking to a woman. 'I've had to block many men on dating apps who say things like, 'I'm gonna hurt you'. "Some people use the guise of being open-minded or being into BDSM when they're actually into hurting women. 'There's nothing wrong with women wanting casual sex, that's not the issue. It's the fact you can go on a date and end up dead.' 'Embarrassment' Another victim, Steph - not her real name - told The Sun she blacked out and had a seizure while a male friend choked her during sex - then convinced her not to seek medical treatment. Now 21, she says: 'Choking was something I'd experienced guys liking and doing since my first relationship when I was 14, which in itself is concerning. 'But this time was different. I remember him choking me on and off and my vision going as I blacked out. "I tried to tap him to make him stop, but the next thing I knew I was thrashing about having a seizure and my leg hit a glass and broke it. "He didn't stop or let go immediately. I dread to think what could have happened.' I remember him choking me on and off and my vision going as I blacked out. I tried to tap him to make him stop, but the next thing I knew I was thrashing about having a seizure and my leg hit a glass and broke it. He didn't stop or let go immediately. I dread to think what could have happened Steph Afterwards, she wanted to go to hospital but the man talked her out of it, fearing it would get him 'in trouble'. 'It was terrifying, I wanted to get checked out but I also didn't want to be seen as that girl who ruins someone else's fun or as a prude," she recalls. "My initial reaction was embarrassment, or feeling like I did something wrong. You're not confident in what's normal or not in sex, especially when you're younger.' Steph fears the accessibility of extreme porn to youngsters is normalising violent sex. She is also concerned about toxic influencers like Andrew Tate - who is facing rape and strangling allegations. A TikTok Spokesperson said: "We do not allow fetish or kink behaviour on our platform, we have removed content which breaches our rules and proactively remove 97 per cent of this type of content before it is reported to us.'
The Sun
11 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘Letting my boyfriend choke me during sex left me bruised & terrified' – rise of deadly kink GLORIFIED to TikTok teens
FEELING her boyfriend's hands wind around her neck as he bore down on top of her in bed, nurse Paige Jones felt a rush of adrenaline. But that feeling quickly turned to panic when his grip became so tight she felt herself struggling for breath and starting to lose consciousness. 8 8 "I was turning blue," she told The Sun. "It terrified both of us, and we stopped immediately. "Thankfully I wasn't seriously hurt, though I had a lingering cough and a bruise I had to cover with make-up." The couple's horrifying experience is far from an isolated incident, with social media sites like TikTok awash with disturbing videos and hashtags glorifying the deadly trend of choking during sex, a Sun investigation can reveal. One blonde influencer with millions of followers recently uploaded a video with the chilling caption: "How I think I look getting choked vs what I actually look like." The accompanying footage, showing a man's hand tightly gripping her throat, has racked up nearly half a million likes and thousands of comments. Such is the concern that sex education in schools in England will now include warnings to teenagers about the dangerous act's potentially fatal consequences. Experts are warning that children as young as 13 are being exposed to graphic content online that glorifies rough sex, including breath play - a dangerous act that can cause serious harm or even death. As well as being potentially fatal, strangling is linked to strokes, memory problems, seizures, incontinence, difficulty swallowing, depression, anxiety and even miscarriage. In extreme cases women have died at the hands of men who strangled them during intercourse. They include tragic Georgia Brooke, 26, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, who was fatally choked by Luke Cannon, 31, while they couple were having sex in 2022. Devastated Cannon took his own life the following day. Mum's chilling final moments before she was strangled to death by killer lover who claimed it was 'sex game gone wrong' 8 8 Paige, 31, admits she used to enjoy 'rough sex' with her partner and encouraged him to choke her. "I love passionate sex - the kind that's intense, steamy and full of energy," she said. 'For me, that used to include hair pulling, spanking, and choking." Recalling the day her boyfriend took it too far, Paige says: 'His hands were around my neck and I started to lose consciousness. 'My partner felt incredibly guilty and promised he'd never do it again - it really shook us. 'Since then we've stuck to safer options, and we're both more aware of the risks involved." 'Wall of awfulness' 8 8 Fiona Mackenzie, founder of pressure group We Can't Consent to This, is among those calling for a crackdown on vile online content. She tells The Sun: 'TikTok has video after video of - usually young - women either simulating strangulation or saying, 'Strangulation is great.' "It's just this wall of awfulness. 'Young women have told us that this was the key way that [strangling in sex] has been normalised for them - through TikTok and other lighter platforms that welcome children.' Our probe found 28,000 videos on TikTok with strangulation content. One sick clip shows a man in a mask simulating strangling someone, with the vile caption: "Choking the life out of my victim." Another shows a man grabbing a woman by the throat, captioned: "I knew I was the problem when I love when he choked me [sic]." In a third, a young woman smiles to herself beneath the text: "Me remembering the last time I was choked!" Fiona adds: 'The idea that [as a child] you'd be exposed to these gorgeous young girls who are not much older than you, who are showing you how to get choked by your boyfriend, is monstrous. The idea that [as a child] you'd be exposed to these gorgeous young girls who are not much older than you, who are showing you how to get choked by your boyfriend, is monstrous Fiona Mackenzie 'We also found that if you type in choking or you see choking content, [TikTok] will then suggest search terms to you like breath play, asphyxiation and plastic bagging. 'These platforms are supposed to be moderated but they're just slow and often don't do it. 'Meanwhile parents just assume that it's fine for their teens to browse on TikTok, and that the algorithm will only show them stuff that they actually want to see.' Children will be taught that strangulation is a criminal offence under new sex education guidance published in England. Pupils will learn that applying pressure to someone's neck or covering their mouth and nose is illegal, even without visible injury. Alarming surge The updated sex education guidance - its first major overhaul since 2020 - urges secondary schools to address the alarming surge in the influence of the so-called 'manosphere' and incel culture, along with new forms of harm linked to pornography. Toxic influencer Andrew Tate has also been blamed for the alarming rise in young men chocking partners during sex, after posts promoting the idea of male dominance and sexual control online. Strangling is now thought to be the second most common cause of stroke in women under 40. A 2022 survey by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation found over a third of 16 to 34-year-olds had experienced choking - compared with 16 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds and three per cent of those 55 and above. 'Our research suggests it is now much worse,' Fiona says. 'There is this complete normalisation through social media and through porn that getting strangled is something that you should expect to be done to you." Fiona formed WCCTT in 2018 in response to alarming cases where women had been killed during allegedly consensual sexual activity, with perpetrators let off or handed light sentences by using the so-called 'rough-sex defence'. 8 8 In August last year, Alcwyn Thomas, 44, tried to claim his partner's death was the result of "sex gone bad" when she had asked to be choked. Victoria Thomas, 45, was found dead in a spare bedroom at their home in Cardiff in the early hours, after the couple had been on a night out. Thomas had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine when he strangled her. He admitted manslaughter but denied murder. He was jailed for life in April after being found guilty of brutally "murdering" her. Dubbed the '50 Shades' rough sex defence, it was effectively scrapped with the Domestic Abuse Act of 2021, which clarified that a person cannot consent to being harmed for the purpose of sexual gratification. It also made non-fatal strangulation a specific criminal offence. Although it now carries a five-year prison sentence, in the year up to 2023, around 700 offenders were sentenced for non-fatal strangulation. 'Now if you go to court, if you go to the police, you're likely to get a better outcome than you did before,' Fiona says. 'But what we didn't manage to do was reduce how prevalent the strangulation of women is. 'It's everywhere. It's completely normalised. And women are humiliated for being vanilla or sex-negative if they stand up against it.' 'He seemed to enjoy my panic' By Sun Sexpert Georgie Culley I'LL never forget the moment I felt his hands snake around my neck. I was in my 20s, dating a handsome guy who seemed like the perfect catch - until his eyes glazed over during sex and he suddenly turned into a monster. At first I was shocked as his strong hands wrapped around my throat. We'd both had a few drinks and it took me a few seconds to realise what was happening. As I struggled to release his grip, he just tightened it. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak. But he seemed to enjoy my panic. I nearly blacked out. Afterwards, it hurt to talk. My neck was covered in red finger marks, which later turned into bruises. I had a sore throat for days. But worse than the physical pain was the emotional trauma. I felt violated and confused. How could someone I trusted - someone who was supposed to protect me - do that? Sure, we'd had rough sex before. But there's a huge difference between consensual kink and being choked to the point of unconsciousness. This wasn't exciting or playful - it was terrifying. It could have killed me. That's why I welcome the government's decision to teach kids that strangulation is a criminal offence in the new education curriculum. After my own terrifying experience, I feel passionately about educating youngsters after the dangers of asphyxiation. When I started investigating the rise of choking content on TikTok, it brought all those painful memories flooding back. It's extremely depressing that so many young people are being exposed to videos that glamorise this behaviour - without understanding how dangerous it really is. Scrolling through video after video of young women boasting about being strangled is truly horrifying. Explore your fantasies by all means - I'm The Sun's Sexpert, I believe in a varied and vibrant sex life - but there must be a line. Consent, communication and safety must always come first. Because what's fashionable online isn't always harmless - and sometimes it can be fatal. 'Shame' Orla Davidson, 26, was left with bruises around her neck after her partner strangled her during a sexual encounter earlier this year. The restaurant supervisor told us: 'We had a few drinks, went back to his and started having sex - then he began choking me. I did not give consent. 'His hand was pushing on the front of my neck with a lot of pressure, I remember thinking 'this is hard' - and then I don't remember a certain portion after that.' Two days later, bruises emerged around her neck that grew darker, which Orla hid with high-necked jumpers. 'There was a lot of shock and not knowing how to react to it, and feeling a weird kind of shame,' she recalled. 'I knew I should confront [the man] but didn't know how to have that conversation.' Orla confided in a friend who was 'shocked' by the bruising. 'She said, 'he f***ing strangled you.' I'd known it was bad but her reaction confirmed it. I'm definitely worried women are being subjected to similar things.' She is also concerned about the accessibility of normalisation of choking and violent content on social media and dating apps. Orla added: 'There's a lot of videos on TikTok, especially men telling the camera, 'I'm gonna choke you' as though speaking to a woman. 'I've had to block many men on dating apps who say things like, 'I'm gonna hurt you'. "Some people use the guise of being open-minded or being into BDSM when they're actually into hurting women. 'There's nothing wrong with women wanting casual sex, that's not the issue. It's the fact you can go on a date and end up dead.' 'Embarrassment' Another victim, Steph - not her real name - told The Sun she blacked out and had a seizure while a male friend choked her during sex - then convinced her not to seek medical treatment. Now 21, she says: 'Choking was something I'd experienced guys liking and doing since my first relationship when I was 14, which in itself is concerning. 'But this time was different. I remember him choking me on and off and my vision going as I blacked out. "I tried to tap him to make him stop, but the next thing I knew I was thrashing about having a seizure and my leg hit a glass and broke it. "He didn't stop or let go immediately. I dread to think what could have happened.' I remember him choking me on and off and my vision going as I blacked out. I tried to tap him to make him stop, but the next thing I knew I was thrashing about having a seizure and my leg hit a glass and broke it. He didn't stop or let go immediately. I dread to think what could have happened Steph Afterwards, she wanted to go to hospital but the man talked her out of it, fearing it would get him 'in trouble'. 'It was terrifying, I wanted to get checked out but I also didn't want to be seen as that girl who ruins someone else's fun or as a prude," she recalls. "My initial reaction was embarrassment, or feeling like I did something wrong. You're not confident in what's normal or not in sex, especially when you're younger.' Steph fears the accessibility of extreme porn to youngsters is normalising violent sex. She is also concerned about toxic influencers like Andrew Tate - who is facing rape and strangling allegations. A TikTok Spokesperson said: "We do not allow fetish or kink behaviour on our platform, we have removed content which breaches our rules and proactively remove 97 per cent of this type of content before it is reported to us.'
Scottish Sun
41 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Nato jets scrambled after Putin launches massive overnight drone and missile attack on Ukraine
Five people have been injured after an apartment building was bombed in Kyiv NATO member Poland has scrambled fighter jets after Russia's latest blitz on Ukraine. The jets took to the skies as Vladimir Putin sent the latest wave of kamikaze drones and rockets at Kyiv. 1 Poland scrambled jets after Putin launched his latest onslaught Credit: Getty Eight people, including a two-year-old girl, were injured in the strikes with shrapnel wounds after one bomb hit an apartment building. Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that all of the people were residents of a multi-storey apartment building in the city's Darnytskyi district on the left bank of the Dnipro River. The Polish Ministry of Defence said the jets took off as a precautionary measure during the strikes. They said: "Polish and allied aircraft on standby were scrambled and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems were placed on the highest level of combat readiness." Four of those injured in the attack, which took place soon after midnight on Monday, have been hospitalised, with one person in serious condition, the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko. More to follow... For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos. Like us on Facebook at TheSunUS and follow us on X at @TheUSSun
