(NewsNation) — Tessa Trotter was stabbed and set on fire, allegedly by her husband Zachary Mowel, while their children were forced to watch.
She joined NewsNation’s “Banfield” on Wednesday exclusively from her hospital bed to share her story of recovery.
“I remember everything from the attack,” Tessa Trotter said on NewsNation.
Tessa Trotter on her attack
The day it all happened, Tessa Trotter says, she had just gotten home from work. She planned to take her boys to her sister’s house.
Once she walked in the door, though, Tessa Trotter says Mowel grabbed her by the arm, then stabbed her.
“I just went straight limp on the floor,” she said. Mowel, Tessa Trotter said, then started punching her, with their boys right at the front door.
“I’m yelling for my oldest to go outside and just yell for 911,” Tessa Trotter remembered. The whole time, her sons were “screaming ‘Please don’t kill mommy. Please daddy, please stop stabbing mommy,” Tessa Trotter said.
After bringing her to the kitchen, Tessa Trotter said, Mowel threw her on the floor. Using Tessa Trotter’s phone, Mowel texted her sister to say she was on the way to her house.
Tessa Trotter said that’s when he poured gasoline over the side of the body, telling her, “You’re going to die in this house.”
“He lit me on fire first, and he watched me burn,” Tessa Trotter recalled.
As she lay there, Tessa Trotter thought she was going to die.
“The only thing I was thinking about were my boys and what would happen to them,” Tessa Trotter said.
Tori Trotter, the twin who Mowel texted, knew something was wrong when her sister never showed up to her home, NewsNation local affiliate WKRN reported. Tori Trotter called their mother, who went to check on what was happening.
When they got there, the whole road was blocked off, and Tessa Trotter had already been taken by LifeFlight to the hospital.
“I thought she was gone. I thought I lost my sister,” Tori Trotter said in the interview with WKRN. “I can’t even describe it. I can’t put it into words. This just doesn’t seem real. I just wouldn’t expect this to happen to my family to Tessa.”
Mowel never showed any warning signs, Tessa Trotter said. The couple had been together nine years, but Tessa Trotter said she had asked Mowel for a divorce two months prior.
“He never showed any signs. Never raised a hand,” Tessa Trotter said.
Now, “He’s more than dead to me,” Tessa Trotter added.
Tessa Trotter was reunited on “Banfield” with the good Samaritans, Clay and Ralph Grayson, who rescued her. Tessa Trotter broke down immediately, thanking the men who she says saved her life.
“I can’t say thank you enough. I’m beyond grateful. I would not be here if it weren’t for you,” Tessa Trotter said.
A GoFundMe page was started to offset Tessa Trotter’s medical bills. She was paralyzed from the waist down and suffered third-degree burns. All of her ribs were broken, and she had nine stab wounds.
Tessa Trotter reunited with the Good Samaritans who saved her
Clay and Ralph Grayson were in Tessa Trotter’s neighborhood when the fire started, and they pulled her to safety.
Clay and Ralph Grayson reunited with Tessa Trotter on Banfield.
“I’m glad you’re doing as good as you’ve done provided what you went through,” Clay Grayson said to her.
Clay Grayson said he saw Tessa Trotter previously, “maybe once or twice” when she worked at Wal-Mart.
“Seeing her this close up, and knowing how close we were that day, — it’s just it’s a connection you can’t really explain,” he said.
Trotter broke down immediately, thanking the men who she says saved her life.
“I can’t say thank you enough. I’m beyond grateful. I would not be here if it weren’t for you,” Trotter said.
As court proceedings against Mowel continue, Clay Grayson said he’s “prepared to go all the way.”
Mowel was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault (domestic-related), and domestic assault, per WKRN.
Ralph Grayson said to Tessa Trotter that he’s praying every day that she gets better.
“If there’s anything we can do, please let us know,” he said.
Tessa Trotter’s Recovery
On “Banfield” Wednesday, Trotter said she’s been telling her kids that mommy’s feeling stronger, and that she’ll be home.
Even as young as they are, they knew their father is in jail and why, Trotter said. Sometimes, they call him a “monster,” she said.
Recently, the boys had their first day of school. Despite being in the hospital, Trotter was still able to be there for them through Zoom.
“They just loved carrying the phone around,” she said. “I was still there for them, for the first day…and they just had a blast with it.”