A family has shared how their lives have been profoundly affected following an attack at an NFL game in Texas.
On September 22, Wenceslao and Lindsey Gonzalez, along with their daughter, attended an NFL game at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Lindsey had gifted her husband tickets to watch the Dallas Cowboys take on the Baltimore Ravens for his birthday. It was their first time experiencing a live NFL game, but their excitement quickly turned into a terrifying ordeal as they exited the stadium.
Speaking to CBS News, Lindsey described how they encountered a young woman, similar in age to her daughter, who appeared ‘sobbing’ and ‘scared’ as a man shouted at her.
In an attempt to intervene, the family tried to separate the man from the woman, but he turned his aggression towards Wenceslao.
Lindsey tried to ‘separate them,’ but the man ‘hit [Wenceslao] in the face.’ Her next memory was ‘waking up in hospital.’
According to Arlington Police, Lindsey’s daughter and other witnesses observed the man punch Lindsey, rendering her unconscious on the ground, before he continued the assault by kicking her in the face.
Lindsey suffered a fractured nose in ‘several’ places, a broken jaw on the left side, and ‘a total of 12 fractures’ on her face.
Doctors have expressed concern that despite their efforts to repair the damage with four metal plates, she may never look the same again.
Wenceslao experienced torn ligaments in his leg, which required surgery on October 3.
A man named Rafael Ramirez has been arrested and charged with two counts of assault causing bodily harm.
Lindsey expressed that while she doesn’t harbor ill will towards anyone, she does want the perpetrator to ‘pay for what he’s done,’ and the incident has made her reluctant to attend another Dallas Cowboys game.
Though the family feels their ‘whole world has been turned upside down’ and doubts their lives will ever be the same, Lindsey mentioned that if she managed to ‘save’ the woman from further harm, ‘then it was worth it.’
Emma Hernandez, another eyewitness who tried to intervene, remarked, “Because if he could do this to people who just walked by and said something—we didn’t do anything to him, all we did was walk by and say something. If he could do something to this extent, to random people, who knows what he was doing to her, you know?”