84: A Big Hug & An Incredible Story of Survival

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It was Sean Tarala’s eighth birthday party, and man was he excited. He’d just gotten a new red bike! He was gonna eat cake! And then, just when life couldn’t get any better, his aunt, Jennifer Connell, showed up. “Auntie Jen! Auntie Jen!” he shouted. He ran to her. He lept into her arms. But Jennifer wasn’t prepared for such an exuberant hug. The pair tumbled to the ground. Jennifer experienced immediate pain in her wrist. So what did she do? She sued her nephew for $127k. You’ll want to hear the whole story. This one has a twist ending.

Then Brandi tells us an incredible story of survival. Robert Lee Burton was a controlling, abusive boyfriend. Following a violent attack, Melissa Dohme got a restraining order against Robert. That restraining order effectively ended their relationship. Melissa felt like a new woman. She felt free. But Robert didn’t want to let her go. He called her and called her. He begged her for closure. He said he wanted one last hug. Melissa said okay.

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Aunt who sued nephew for $127k says she’s not after money,” by Chris Perez for the New York Post
“‘She loves us’: Nephew speaks out on aunt’s hug injury lawsuit,” Tribune Media Wire
“8-year-old Westport boy on trial for exuberance,” by Daniel Tepfer for the Connecticut Post
“Woman loses lawsuit against nephew over ‘exuberant hug,’” by Kim Lacapria for Snopes

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Live to Tell: One Last Hug” 48 Hours episode
“48 Hours: Dating violence survivor tells story” by Melissa Dohme, CBS News
“Marrying the man who saved my life” BBC News Magazine
“Domestic Abuse Survivor Finds Happily Ever After with First Responder Who Saved Her Life: ‘He Loved Me Through It All’” by Rose Minutaglio, People Magazine