911 RESPONDER: OK.

What's going on out there?

WITNESS: Well I'm not real sure.

I just pulled up and there's a woman here.

Here, let her tell you.

911 RESPONDER: OK.

SHARON: Who is this?

911?

911 RESPONDER: Yes.

This is the State Police, honey.

Tell me what's going on.

SHARON: Well, I don't even know.

I don't even know where I am.

He asked me, he said he just needed a ride

a few blocks down the road.

We got in the car.

And he kept saying go straight, go straight.

And then he grabbed me and pulled a knife out of his leg.

911 RESPONDER: He pulled a knife on you?

SHARON: Yes.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

911 RESPONDER: I just want you to stay on the phone with me,

OK?

Sharon?

Sharon?

Honey, are you there?

[BEEP]

NARRATOR: Attorney Sharon Muse was leaving her office late one

Friday afternoon when a man she didn't recognize

asked for help with his wife's will.

Then he asked her for a ride.

SHARON: And so I'm thinking, OK.

The man's wife just died.

And you're really going to make him walk home in the rain?

I just felt like I didn't have permission

to continue to say no.

NARRATOR: Once in the car, he became violent,

forcing her to drive to an abandoned farmhouse.

There, he slammed her head into the console,

pinned her down, and ripped off her blouse.

Then he pulled out a knife.

SHARON: And I can see this long steel blade coming towards me.

And he's leaning over.

And he says, this is for those years in prison.

Sharon finally realized that her attacker

was Hank Smith, a client she had represented

in an arraignment years before.

He was later convicted and spent six years behind bars.

Now out of prison, he blamed her.

And she knew this was the end.

SHARON: He's pushing the blade into my throat.

And I can feel it.

I can feel the cold steel down here.

And I can feel this pressure, like pushing and pushing

in here.

And he says to me, take your pants off.

NARRATOR: Sharon firmly told him no.

Then suddenly, she says Hank was pulled off of her as if

by some unseen force.

Somehow the knife jammed into the dashboard,

breaking the blade.

Now she was able to fight back and escape.

SHARON: And I popped up from the ditch

and spread eagle stand in the middle of the road.

My breasts are exposed.

There's blood running everywhere.

I had chunks of my hair hanging out of my head.

And I'm screaming stop, stop, help me, help me.

NARRATOR: A married couple stopped to help.

The wife shielded Sharon while her husband kept Hank at bay.

They called 911.

SHARON: He told me to take my clothes off

and he was going to rape me.

911 RESPONDER: Ma'am, is he still there?

SHARON: Yes.

Please tell them to hurry.

NARRATOR: Hank was apprehended at the scene where

police found he was carrying duct tape and a hammer.

Sharon learned that he intended to rape, torture, and kill her.

She knew God had saved her life.

SHARON: There is no question that God showed up that day.

He fought for me.

In my mind, it's like I know that God is huge.

And God is everywhere.

And He can be everywhere with everyone.

But it felt like nothing else mattered.

And all of heaven just drilled down on that spot.

And He fought for me.

And He was like, not today.

You are not taking her today.

NARRATOR: But her ordeal was far from over.

Even though he was behind bars, Sharon

was in a constant state of high alert.

Etched in her mind were those horrific moments and Hank's vow

that he would never rest until he killed her.

SHARON: There were times that I would just

shake out of control.

I would grind my teeth.

I never slept.

My weight would plummet.

Then I would gain.

And my hair would fall out.

I had an antique dresser.

And I would push it in from my bedroom door every night.

And then I would call the jail to make sure he was still in.

And then I would try to sleep.

NARRATOR: Sharon lived on edge as Hank's trial

was delayed because of mishandled evidence

and technicalities.

Meanwhile, she decided there was only one way

to keep herself safe.

SHARON: I had my license to carry within two

weeks of the incident.

So if I kill this guy who already tried to kill me,

that's not murder.

It's like, that's self-defense.

Pro-active self-defense.

Because logically, why would a person wait around for someone

to come back and torture you and rape you and stab you?

The life that I was living wasn't a life worth living.

It would have not been that different than going to prison.

Because I was already in a prison.

NARRATOR: Sharon knew when and where

he would be transferred for trial

and waited for her chance.

But before she could carry out her plan,

she accepted an invitation to attend a church retreat.

SHARON: At the retreat, they ask you to walk up to this area

when you're ready.

And they have pieces of paper and pencils.

And they just ask you to write out

your sins and your struggles and to really

think about what is keeping you from that sweet communion

with God.

NARRATOR: Sharon says God began to speak to her about Hank.

SHARON: It was just this, you've got to let him go.

He has hurt you.

And it hurts.

And he has wounded you.

And he has taken from you and taken from you.

And there is no excuse for that.

But it is eating you alive.

And I need you to forgive him.

Not because he deserves it.

Not because he's earned it.

But because I'm forgiving you.

And I will give you the ability to forgive him.

And I'm writing this stuff out.

NARRATOR: Sharon wrote her forgiveness on a piece of paper

and nailed it to a cross.

SHARON: I physically felt different.

When I stood up from that, I'd been kneeling and praying.

And when I stood up, I felt like I was 20 pounds lighter.

NARRATOR: Sharon knew God had saved her life.

A second time.

SHARON: The first time, He physically

rescued me in the car.

And at this retreat, I feel like He spiritually rescued me.

Again, He is pursuing me and chasing me and loving on me.

And I thank God that He is so much bigger and more loving

than I ever imagined.

He saved me from that.

I can't imagine if I'd actually gone through with that.

NARRATOR: Sharon braved two trials

over the next five years.

Hank was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced

to life in prison.

He is eligible for parole in 10 years.

Sharon still deals with moments of fear

but chooses to forgive him every day.

SHARON: To think that God loves him and is pursuing him

and wants to bring him in and do everything for him that he's

done for me, I'm thankful that we worship a God like that.

NARRATOR: Today, she is restoring her family's horse

farm to offer other victims legal advice,

self-defense training, and a place to heal.

SHARON: There's nothing, nothing that

is worth holding on to that could possibly replace

the peace and the joy and the freedom

that you get when you let that go.

Because you are not letting them off the hook.

They will answer to God.

And God will take care of them.

And you get to just enjoy your relationship with God

and tap into all that power that you

need to heal from the hurt they've caused you.

I'm happy.

I smile a lot.

I laugh.

I'm back.

I got my life back.