Mom Who Jumped From RV To Escape Abuser Shares New Miracle
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Candie Price faced a TV camera today without makeup in the hope that her scars would send a message.
"Domestic violence is real," says Price. "This is real. If you have somebody who's beating on you, or hitting on you, it's not gonna stop."
Price admits that she ignored similar warnings—wanting to allow her sons access to their father. And she admits she loved Tony Kelly… made excuses for him... and was shocked when an argument of the day, turned into a cross county trip from hell.
"When I saw the gun, I was like 'oh, my gosh', says Price.
She says Kelly kidnapped her last May, along with the couple's young sons, and led police on a chase from Hunt County near Greenville, to Arlington. She finally jumped from that moving RV in a desperate bid to save her life. She'd already been shot three times.
"I said, 'let me call my Mom before you kill me', and everything and managed to text 911 and they picked up that call."
As police began following, Price says Kelly told her that he intended to take his own life… and kill her as well. That's when she decided to jump. "I knew it was either this, or die."
Police had already punctured the RV's tires with spike strips, but Kelly kept driving… sparks from the rims flashing along the freeway, until the RV became swallowed in flames. He pushed the couple's young sons to safety before taking his own life.
"I prayed and I really felt like He was going to protect me," says Price, "and He did. Something did. Something did."
Price says she doesn't know whether it was God or an angel; but, she insists there was a presence in that RV that night that kept her calm, that kept her children safe—including the one that she didn't know she carried. The miracle that she named Malakiah was born earlier this month.
"Maybe that's why we were protected so hard."
In spite of what happened, Price says Kelly was a good Dad and their sons miss him. She says the boys are doing well and she's in counseling to help heal the less visible scars. She says she's sharing her story hoping to reach someone who is willing to hear the warnings that she once ignored.
"I hope I at least reach one person-- it's real."