Lindsey Arp of Tennessee thought she’s found Mr. Right when she met Ryan Haas. He was handsome, romantic, and everything she’d wanted in a man. The couple had two children together during their four-year relationship.
Ryan Had a Dark Side
After dating for six months, Haas started to reveal his darker side. When Arp wanted to see her dad, he hid her keys, picked her outfit, and kept calling her at work during the day. It was forbidden for her to have a cell phone.
2009 saw Lindsey give birth to their first daughter, and shortly after, Ryan started ab*using her physically. He started calling her offensive names and followed her everywhere she went. In an attempt to permanently ensnare Lindsey in his abu*sive ways, he emotionally and mentally mistreated her.
Lindsey Ends the Relationship
She’d had enough after the birth of their second daughter when things only continually worsened. With children to think about, Lindsey knew it was time to end the relationship with Ryan. She told him that it was over and asked him to leave the home.
Ryan seemed okay with the request, but four days later, flew into a rage. He lashed out at Lindsey, slapping her and blacking her eye.
A Life-Altering Attack
She said she went to bed around 10 p.m. on April 11, 2011. She woke up at 2:30 a.m. in the worst pain she had ever been in. Ryan threw hot chicken grease on her face, arms, chest, and body.
She was almost ki*lled in the attack. She later said it made her feel like she was being fried from the inside out.
Lindsey ran to the house of a neighbour. The neighbour didn’t recognise her because she was so badly burned. When police and paramedics got there, Lindsey was flown to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Hospital.
“I tried to stay calm, but it was awful,” Lindsey said.
As soon as the air ambulance arrived, my skin was flaking off in big chunks, and I felt like I was melting away. It looked like someone had k*illed me because there was blood everywhere.
A Long, Painful Recovery
Lindsey had third-degree burns on 45% of her body. She would spend the next 148 days in the hospital, during which time doctors told her mother that she would likely die.
Ryan was arrested the same night.
Lindsey endured 38 surgeries to reconstruct one side of her face, as well as many laser treatments and skin grafts. She is blind in one eye and lost one of her ears.
As a woman who prided herself on her looks, Lindsey says looking in the mirror for the first time was the most painful part of her recovery. It took her six months and six days. She does say, though, that as her body heals, her emotional health gets better. She says she’s thankful to be alive at the end of the day.
Ryan Haas Convicted
In July 2012, Lindsey saw Ryan in court again. Ryan said he was sorry in court, but she knew it was all a show. She was able to forgive him, but she still hoped the court would find him guilty.
Ryan Haas was found guilty of first-degree murder, which made her happy. He was given 40 years in prison by the judge. At the moment, he is doing his time at the Tennessee Whiteville Correctional Facility.
