It Could Have Been Me: Donna Ongsiako | Forensic Files

Before we begin, just a trigger warning. The following episode does include mentions of graphic physical violence.
>> I survived a violent home invasion after everything was said and done. Um, it was
I lost in in total close to 3/4 of the blood in my body. There's no earthly reason why I'm alive. None. There is
none. As you heard, that is Donna Anakaco, who miraculously survived a random attack in
her Colts Neck, New Jersey home back in the early morning hours of July 7th, 2013. Donna lived with her 21-year-old
daughter, but she was home alone that night. And after opening her front door to let her cat back in the house, Donna
then encountered an intruder attempting to cut through the screen of the window by her front door. He proceeded to stab
her multiple times on her face and in her chest before leaving with her purse and her car keys. As Donna lay on the
floor bleeding, she somehow found the strength to crawl upstairs where her cell phone was and she called 911 while
her attacker then escaped in her car. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Just stand up on me. Okay. Where did you get stabbed?
>> In the neck. Blood is gushing out and in the chest. >> Okay. I can feel my heart. I'm pouring
gushing blood. >> Then before briefly losing consciousness, she was able to describe
her attacker in great detail. >> He was probably about 17. White, real skinny, curly hair,
blonde, dirty blonde hair, a little bit long hair in the backpack. I'm losing consciousness. Okay, so stay
with me. Okay. >> Yeah, I could feel the water's just the blood is just water. It's like water.
After paramedics arrived, Donna then was rushed to the hospital. And as you heard
her say, she lost close to 3/4 of the blood in her body. But thanks to Donna's detailed description of her attacker and
additional tips and DNA evidence, police identified 16-year-old Brennan Doyle as
a suspect. He was arrested nearly 4 months after stabbing Donna. And Doyle claimed he was under the influence at
the time of magic mushrooms. In 2015, Doyle pleaded guilty to attempted murder and carjacking, and he was sentenced to
15 years in prison. And while Doyle is in prison, Donna is still struggling to recover from the trauma of her attack.
I'm Natalie Morales of 48 hours, and this is It Could Have Been Me. [Music] Welcome, Donna. It is so good to have
you here with us and thank you so much for being willing to share your story with us. Thank you for having me. I know
what you went through was so traumatic physically, emotionally. How are you doing today?
>> Um physically all of my injuries have healed. I have some, you know, nerve damage, uh pins and needles in my left
arm. Um but other than that, physically I'm okay. you know, psychologically, um, it's I'm still working on that. Um,
I can go places by myself now, >> but do I like being in the dark, in the night, by myself? No. Still, it um is it
it is difficult for me. Your your physical scars have healed so beautifully as well. You don't see them
as much anymore, but um, as you said, the emotional trauma is still something that you live with. And um I know that
has to be so difficult to go through as you said the nighttime and the darkness because that's when the attack happened.
Um you've moved out of that house though and um I know that area of New Jersey. I
lived in New Jersey for many many years. It's a beautiful peaceful area, horse country. Something like this though, you
never expect something like this to happen in Colts Neeneck, New Jersey, right? >> No, never. I felt very safe there. Never
in my wildest nightmares would I would think this would happen there. >> Take me back to that night. Your
daughter Kirstston, she was out at a party. You nodded off, but then you went to open the door to let your cat back
in. What happened then? Right. So, when I opened the door, I saw a kid standing on the porch. That's what I zoned in on.
Um, and then like a millisecond later, I saw the knife that he had and he was cutting into the screen and the window
and my response kicked into, "Oh, I got to shut this door, you know." So, as I was shutting the door, he charged out
the door and the knife, it stuck through just a a tiny little opening um before I
could actually shut the door and it cut my finger, the tip of my finger, and I pulled my hand off the door. You know,
that was like that was the most painful moment. Uh was that knife cutting the tip of my finger
>> because my body hadn't shut down yet at that point. It was just sliced into my
hand. Um so when I pulled my hand off the door, he pushed the door in and was face to face with me in my kitchen. I
could not think far enough ahead to say he's going to cut me with that knife. M >> um but sure enough, he was standing just
straight in front of me and he just started slashing me. Uh my face, you could see this part um here, but it
actually goes all the way back here. So, he just took the knife and, you know, slash that way. And I could not
process again that he would actually cut me. So, I'm holding my my face like this
and he's slashing my neck. um you know and then so now I'm like oh you know like what's h you know what's
happening and he stabbed me straight into my chest >> um and still even with the sla you know
the slashes and the stabs I couldn't process that he was actually like another stab was going to come another
slash was going to come like I couldn't process that um gosh it is unreal hearing you describe all of this and
it's still so clear as day to you in your memory I can see that. I'm sure that's so hard to relive that moment,
the pain you were feeling in that moment. >> And as I understand, this is this is a
young man that you'd never seen him before. It's not somebody you recognized, right?
>> Right. Totally random. >> You saw though, he seemed to be young. You got a good feel for what he looked
like. I mean, you were staring at him as he's doing this to you. You wouldn't take your eyes off him.
>> Absolutely correct. Yep. Without a doubt. >> So, he's attacking you multiple times.
He stabbed you at this point. >> In that time, what's going through your head? Are your survival instincts
kicking in? >> Yes. I s well I started to think um you know, I have to get that knife like I
have to get it out of his hands. Um so, as I was backing away from him, um I tried to grab the knife from him. You
know, I you know, in my head, I'm going to grab that knife and I'm going to get it away from him. But um it literally
just cut my hand open. I ended up on the floor um you know when he came over to me on the floor. He asked me um for my
car keys and for a lighter. So I directed him to that to my purse and uh he went through my purse and got what he
needed. And and I know that you were wanting to figure out get get to your cell phone, right? That was part of the
whole thinking at that moment. Yeah, my cell phone was upstairs once he left with the car keys, the lighter. That was
your opportunity. You had to get upstairs. How'd you do that? I mean, in the condition you were in.
>> I have no idea. I have no idea. I always say that there was definitely divine
intervention that helped me get up and get up the stairs. And I feel like I floated up those stairs um and to my
phone. >> Almost like an out-of- body experience. Really? >> Yes. Yes, absolutely.
>> And I know part of your motivation was your daughter. She was out, but you knew
she would come back. You knew she would find you. >> I could just imagine Kirsten coming in,
you know, walking in through that door and finding me laying there. Um, and that couldn't happen. That just um
wasn't something I was prepared to let happen. You got to your phone yet incredibly you were still with it enough
to look outside and notice that your attacker was still there in the car. So you had to be really careful once you
got your phone, right? What did you do? >> Yes. I I picked up my phone and it was
still on the um attached to the cord and I you know I knew that if I unplugged the cord from it, you know, it was going
to light up and he would see like that light um in the dark. And I was so terrified that he was going to see that
and he was going to come back in. And so I kind of just, you know, slunk down to
the floor with it and tried to be as careful as I could. Um, and it was hard just trying to swipe on
the phone just to unlock it. Um, cuz I had so much blood on my hands. Finally, I just wiped it off, wiped it off on the
side of the bed and, uh, was able to dial 911. >> Do you remember that call at all now?
>> I remember feeling so panicked, just just desperate, and trying to get all of the right information out, all
the right words out. After the criminal trial was done, I went back to uh the prosecutor's office and I asked them if
I could hear my 911 call um because I wanted to make sure like did I actually speak clearly? Did I actually give them
all this information like they said I did? And um that was really empowering for me to go back years later and and
hear that recording. >> You you give me goosebumps, you know, just imagining you hearing that for the
first time after having gone through what she went through um you made it out of that house. Incredible. And then you
had to undergo 7 hours of surgery um when you're in the hospital. Is it true that you were worried that your attacker
might come back for you? >> Oh yeah, without a doubt. Um, you know, in every scary movie that you see or
every, you know, type of slasher movie like that, you see, the killer comes back dressed as a doctor, dressed as a
nurse, or they slip in and um, you know, as an orderly or something like that. >> But they I kept telling them, you know,
like like, is there a guard out, you know, asking them, is there a guard outside my door? Um, you know, and they
kept trying to assure me that it was a secure floor. Um, I was under an alias. Nobody was getting on on this floor into
my room unless uh they knew my alias. Yeah. Absolutely terrified. >> Your alias was Sarah Reese.
>> Yeah. It was shocking actually to see that on my wristband. I I know you describe feeling like you almost lost
your identity because the attack it's like it took so much away from you. I completely do not identify with who I
was pre-attack there. I feel like there's not a stitch of me left from, you know, before the attack.
>> You're a different person now. >> Totally different person. And I'm uh still trying to figure out uh who that
is. >> It's obviously a work in progress, but you're so strong and and you see you're
such a survivor. Um I know your friend Sharon Sharp was was really important to helping you go through your recovery.
She described seeing you in the hospital. those those very first few days and the stab wounds and you know
how much blood even was in your hair at that moment and and she talked about that. Let's take a listen here. Her
beautiful long hair was just caked. I mean caked. It was almost like it was almost like a thing you could pick up in
blood and all she'd say was, "I want my hair washed. I want my hair washed." Everybody could smell it. You couldn't
not smell it. It was horrible. It was horrible. >> And I love that in that moment, your
friends saw what you needed and they took action. They washed your hair. They tried to be strong for you when you
needed that. Um the washing of the blood out of my hair. Uh that for me was so it
was almost ceremonial. Um that was a lingering ick factor for me was that smell, that
smell of blood. I just couldn't shake it. >> Well, it it was it was just four days
later that you were able to leave the hospital. And I mean, I think you had something like 37 stitches, am I right?
And 38 staples throughout your body. >> Yeah. I think they would have kept me there longer, but every day I was like,
I'm ready to go. I have to leave. I did not feel safe there at all. >> And of course, you didn't feel safe
going back to the house, so you didn't go back there. Where did you end up going?
>> Yeah. So, I ended up going back to my parents house. So, it was my mother and
my father um and a brother that lived there and my sister lived there at the time with her three children. So, there
was no room at at the end for me. >> Um so, they ended up just uh kind of putting me in my niece's room. It was
chaos. Well, and and I know you were concerned because your attacker was still out there and it would take four
months before 16-year-old Brennan Doyle was then arrested and you know your attacker, we said he was young. What was
your reaction though when you heard I mean he was just 16 years old. I mean I stood face to face with him so I saw him
and I knew he was young. I didn't realize he was that young. Um, and kind of shocked because I was in
really good shape physically. And if you said a 16-year-old was going to, you know, force the way into your house and
attack you, I would have said absolutely not. That is not going to happen. I was
in the best shape of my life. Um, there was no way >> that that was going to happen. But, uh,
fight, flight, or freeze. And I froze. >> Yeah. And he was then charged as an adult. Mhm.
>> When you heard what Brennan Doyle was alleging, he said it was magic mushrooms
that possessed him to do what he did to you. What did you make of that? >> Yeah, I thought that was just um a
copout. He seemed very present and very sure of what he was doing. So, I don't buy the whole um hallucinogenic
story. Did you see him in court? >> Yes, I went to every single court appearance there were throughout the um
the two years between the time the attack and then the actual trial in 2015. I went to every single appearance
even if it was just like a 10-minute like this is what's happening thing because I wanted him to see me. I wanted
him to know that I was alive and um and and I was showing up, you know. >> And he pleaded guilty to attempted
murder and carjacking. That was in 2015, then sentenced to 15 years in prison. What was your reaction when you heard
that sentence? >> If we were to go to trial, I was told that he can maintain his innocence and
there would be no guarantee of him of the amount of time that he would get. um if we went to trial, he could get
four years, he could get, you know, 7 years, what have you. But if he takes a plea deal, they told me he has to admit
his guilt to the court. So when they said he's going to take a plea deal for uh 15 years,
I I wanted that as opposed to taking a chance that he could get four years and maintain his innocence.
>> Mhm. So, the there was a a civil award after the criminal trial uh where I was
awarded $5 million. I have not seen any money from that. >> He could be coming out soon, you know,
in a couple of years. Have you come to the terms with the fact that he might be released?
>> I have not come to terms with that. I am I have to work on that. I feel like he's
not going to come out and come after me, but you know, you never know. There's there's that little part of me
that you're not going to convince that he he doesn't want to hurt or harm me. [Music]
You know, I it's it's hard to even ask the question, but what does closure look like for you? I mean, especially when
you talk about this was such a random act of violence. >> Yeah. you know, um, hindsight is 2020, so looking back on
how I came out of the hospital and everything was so chaotic and everybody was so traumatized, nobody knew what to
do. Looking back now, um, had I been received into an environment that had created a safe environment for
me, that is what I needed. Like I needed that foundation. I still need it. the foundation of safety. I have to figure
out, can I live in a standalone house by myself >> or do I have to always live in a an
apartment with other people around or a condo or, you know, something with other
people around, >> you know? And I think what what you're doing now is so remarkable because
you're trying to help people understand >> what it means to be a victim of a random
attack and and the emotions, you know, the the post-traumatic stress that goes along with all of that when it comes to
healing. Yeah. Uh well, when well, first of all, I didn't think maybe the first couple days when I was
out of the hospital, I didn't think that I had post-traumatic stress. Like, I didn't I was just like, you know, this
was a hor, you know, a violent, horrible thing. And um I'm going to calm down and
things will be okay. I followed the steps of like what I was supposed to do, followed doctor's orders and things like
that. It wasn't until things started happening to me that um it really set in like the nightmares and the not sleeping
and um I couldn't be around people and the isolating and the >> um the emotions up and down like I could
be sitting here um just like this and all of a sudden I wouldn't be crying but tears would be pouring out of me.
>> I had all this tra trauma inside me and it had to be released somehow. Right.
And Donna, what what are you doing now to help you know get through this? I mean, it's still it seems like it's very
emotionally traumatic still to this day. >> Yes. So, I still am in therapy. Um, I
was on anti-anxiety medications. I was on medication. Whatever the the doctors thought that I
should be on, I I followed their protocol. Um I also uh started to do yoga and meditation and aroma therapy.
Anything calming, mind, body, soul type calming things >> to help you heal though. I know that you
created a support group specifically focused on victims of random attacks. Why was that important to you?
>> You know, nobody could put together the the that random act. nobody could put
together that I was alone in the night, in the dark, and barely escaped death. I
knew I needed to talk to somebody else and um hear their experience, I guess, more for hope, right? Let me I want to
hear from somebody who who got to the other side of this, who survived it and is doing well and is thriving and, you
know, has all these ways of coping. So, I just wanted with the support group, I wanted to be able to be a safe place for
somebody else to tell their story. >> Um, you know, hold space for somebody else.
>> I I heard you saying that you have the same job and that you had before the attack that they've been very supportive
and helpful. >> Yes. Yeah. Thank you so much for pointing that out because um having my
job to go back to and having a purpose to get up and get out of bed and um go to work every day that was so important.
It's the one thing that has not changed since the attack. It's the one constant.
And what do you want people to know about victims of random attacks? How do we talk to people who've gone through
what you've gone through in a way that doesn't also, you know, become triggering? I think you really have to
meet people where they are and in hearing somebody talk about whatever they're experiencing or whatever they're
going through. You don't have to fix it. You you don't have to offer advice. Just
listen, you know, just just let let them release that. um without judgment. >> Um I know before the attack you competed
in tough mutters and you know you as you said you were in the best shape of your
life back then. Um I think though what got you through this is you're the toughest mother.
I'm amazed again how you got up those stairs. You called 911. who gave that description. It really all came from a
place of love knowing that you needed to protect your daughter. Um, how are you and and Kirsten doing today? Yeah, she's
doing well. Um, she's building a life um of her own with her husband. There's still that uh there's like a wedge there
from the attack. I feel like I'm there's always something in my everyday life that relates to the attack or something
from the attack and I feel like I I don't want to put that on her because that then causes her to
>> think about it and then you know so there's a wedge there where I kind of try to protect her from my stuff and she
kind of tries to protect me from any of her stuff and it's not the healthiest thing but um we're going to get through
it. I know you will and and I know it has to be so hard. I mean, you both have been through so much. So, it's it's
understandable how, you know, in trying to protect one another, you end up sometimes putting, you know, blocks in
the way in the path of allowing you to have, you know, a really open and honest conversation.
>> But you'll get there. You'll get there because the work you're doing is amazing
and >> sharing your story, helping others is helping you. And I could see that. So,
Donna, you're you're incredible and it's such a privilege to get to know you and
I know it wasn't easy having a conversation again about what happened to you, but we so appreciate you sharing
it because perhaps in in helping us understand how best to talk to victims of random attacks, you're creating an
opportunity as well to let us just understand people going through traumatic experiences as a whole. Thank
you so much. We want to thank you for listening to It Could Have Been Me. I'm Natalie Morales
and you can always find your latest podcast in the 48 hours podcast feed. It's free on the Odyssey app or wherever
you get your podcasts. [Music]

After being stabbed in a random attack in her New Jersey home, Donna Ongsiako says there is no earthly reason why she should be alive. While losing massive amounts of blood, she was able to call 911 and describe her attacker in great detail. "48 Hours" correspondent Natalie Morales spoke with Donna about how she continues to cope with the trauma of her attack and how best to support victims as they recover.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Donna Anakaco shares her survival story after a violent home invasion and discusses ongoing trauma and recovery efforts.

Key points

Surviving the Attack. Donna Anakaco recounts her harrowing experience of surviving a violent home invasion.
The Aftermath of Trauma. Donna shares her ongoing struggle with the emotional scars left by the attack.
Creating a Support Group. Donna establishes a support group for victims of random attacks to share their experiences.
A Journey of Healing. Donna shares her struggles and triumphs in healing from a traumatic attack.
Protecting Each Other. The delicate balance of protecting loved ones while dealing with trauma.
Creating Understanding. Sharing stories helps others understand trauma and its effects.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

There's no earthly reason why I'm alive. None.

Donna Anakaco reflecting on her survival after the attack.

0:14WatchJul 27, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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