An autistic Arizona mom was left without an eye after she was shot by a burglar late last year – and now she says her insurance company will not cover the cost of a prosthetic due to the injury being ‘cosmetic.’
Anne, 40, almost died during the December attack at her parent’s home in Snowflake, she told DailyMail.com Thursday – a week before her assailant is set to be to be sentenced.
Joel Hernandez, 19, broke into the home as she was trying to sleep, she said – describing how his gun was drawn and how he urged her to stay quiet.
He then tried to rape her, she revealed – before detailing how she still suffers from PTSD and panic attacks to this day.
When she fought back, the then-18-year-old shot her in the head and ran off, she said. The bullet went through her head, past her brain, out her eye, down her cheek, and into her shoulder, but somehow, she survived.
Hernandez was later arrested, pleading guilty to the offense some five months later. His sentencing is slated for August 15, as the victim’s battle over coverage continues.
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‘The guy came in my room drunk tried to rape me,’ Anne, said, asking that her last name not be published. She also said she is on the autism spectrum.
‘When I told him no he shot me in my face,’ she recalled further, taking great pains to do so.
‘And then he ran,’ she added, still on the mend more than seven months later.
Her statements came on the heels of other interviews given to Arizona’s Family 3TV & CBS 5, as well as Fox 10 Phoenix.
She told all how she wants Hernandez to face the full consequences of his actions – a stance she reiterated Thursday.
‘I have PTSD now with anxiety and panic attacks,’ she said of her mental state since the attack.
‘I want him to be charged to the fullest.’
She further revealed how the teen ‘had alcohol on his breath’ when he attempted to get in close to her as she laid in bed – before bravely fighting back as he tried to take off her clothes.
That’s when he got frustrated and shot her in the face, she said – before explaining the saga that’s ensued since after her insurance carrier refused to cover the costs of surgeries and a new, more advance prosthetic eye to give her back some sense of normalcy.
‘I just want all this court stuff to be done and over with,’ she told DailyMail.com, after staffers at the Arizona-based firm deemed the surgeries and prosthetic not necessary.
‘I want my life to go back to normal but I know it won’t,’ she continued, days before the case is poised to close in the legal sense.
At that point, sentencing will be left up to the court, after Hernandez pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and burglary, as well as the unlawful use of transportation, criminal damage and threatening or intimidation.
The litany of offenses could see him imprisoned for 30 years at the most, if the Navajo County Attorney’s Office decides to hit him with the maximum punishment in the wake of his plea deal this past May.
As for Anne, despite being left without her right eye, she says her insurance will not cover the cost of any surgeries on her eye after branding them elective procedures.
‘I have AHCCCS Health Insurance here in Arizona,’ she revealed, referring to the state’s Medicaid program.
‘My doctor is trying to help me get it covered,’ she added, showing how the issue is not yet resolved.
Anne, a stay-at-home mom, still resides in Snowflake. Her family has started a fundraiser to help with her medical costs.
DailyMail.com has reached out to AHCCCS for comment.