A 21-year-old student at Kentucky’s Asbury University was on the verge of death as she could not breathe for nearly 23 minutes and was rushed to emergency care from her dorm room.

Isabella Willingham was found unconscious, and she wasn’t breathing but it is unknown what caused her condition or injuries. She was found with deep wounds and bruises.

She received the CPR treatment for 23 minutes in the hospital. She has now broken silence in new interview with NPR saying, “I believe God spared me because my mission is to now bring light to the safety issues on campus. The students definitely need way more protection than they’re getting.”

The young woman pushed for bolstering the safety on campus. “I want what happened to me to draw attention to the fact that Asbury needs more cameras on all of their exits and entryways,” she said. Willngham’s dorm room was located in Glide-Crawford Residence Hall. It is an all-female dormitory with strict rules about men entering the building. Any visit from males were documented and at the time she was treated, rape kit and toxicology report said she wasn’t sexually assaulted.

Her parents still demand answers, according to reports. The incident occurred last November but the victim still has no answers. An investigation has been ongoing but the cause of her injuries and her breath stopping could still not be established.

Describing the incident, Willingham’s father reportedly said, "At 11 that night, we get a call from the resident director of her dorm, and she tells us that Bella is in an ambulance on her way to the emergency room, that she had been found unresponsive on the floor of her room by her roommate.” He continued that the paramedics said that his daughter could not breathe on her own for 23 minutes. She had injuries which were life-threatening, with several of them being deep cuts that caused swelling in her legs but there are no answers.

On November 27, last year, the young woman was taken to intensive care due to the severity of her injuries. She remained hospitalized unbeknownst to her parents. At the time that they gathered for Thanksgiving, they were informed about the unfortunate incident by a resident director of her dorm at Asbury. Willingham remained in hospital for two weeks. Her acrylic nails she had been wearing before the assault were found torn off. 

The Jessamine County Sheriff's Office documented the case. The police launched an investigation to determine what happened. While there are different narratives, her father stated, "There's no way these could've been caused by anything other than someone doing something to her.” He also added that the university did not take the assault on his daughter seriously for two weeks and delayed informing him. "As a parent, I want to know if there's a possibility of someone coming into the school or campus being potentially dangerous."