‘Surviver’ will establish annual self-defense day

Three weeks ago, the man was jailed for 18 and a half years for carrying out premeditated attacks on three women in Clondalkin from 2011 to 2016.

A temporary ban in naming the attacker is in place for legal reasons.

Speaking to The Echo on her birthday (May 24) in a Richmond Barracks cafe, Ruth said she “was meant to be there” in that laneway.

“The bigger picture is it was a small price to pay for me, with other women attacked. Those women are my little heroes. Very admirable. So ladylike and composed.”

Her case concluded in the same week as the tragic murders of Leixlip teenager Anastasia Kriegel (14) and IT Tallaght student Jastine Valdez (24).

This thrust Ruth reluctantly into the media spotlight, but she wanted to express hope for other women, and her story touched a nerve throughout the country, particularly on the Late Late Show.

Self-defense day

Ruth said: “I have been in touch with John Kavanagh and he said he’d love to help me get a yearly date of May 24 as an annual self-defense day in support of women.

“I am looking to have a launch day before the Summer is out in Croke Park or Phoenix Park. When I first heard Kavanagh was holding free self-defense classes for women, I thought we are on the right track here. Perhaps gyms could open up their premises for it, and every employee is given the opportunity to take part.”

Meeting Ruth Maxwell, one would not think her youthful appearance is that of a grandmother (and mother of two), nor that she is someone who faced pure evil and managed to survive.

The only giveaway, is a bandaged left hand (she is left handed) a visible reminder of how she stopped her assailant from stabbing her, by grabbing the hunting knife in her hand.

“Gardai said to me that I wasn’t going to make it out alive,” she said.

“It’s quite gruesome. I could have lost the tendon completely on the index finger if the knife went through the top of it.”

Ruth was only new to the Clondalkin area at the time, living there for about eight weeks when the attack took place.

“I had been in the area before, collecting raffle prizes for Foxrock Youth Club in Molloys, and thought to myself, this is a really beautiful place,” she said.

“The people of Clondalkin gave me great support during the case.”

Now living in Longford, she recoils at the thought of cable ties – which the attacker had with him – but Ruth is a practical person who faces her fears one by one.

She went to court each day to seek “answers” and was pleased with how Judge Pauline Codd handled the case.

“He stared straight at me – I didn’t break my stare,” said Ruth.

Ruth missed the day of sentencing in court, as she was in St James’s Hospital getting stitches out of her hand.

“The only thing I wanted to hear on sentencing day was what the judge said. At the beginning, I wanted to see the look on his face, but after a while I knew there would be nothing.”

No remorse

The attacker has never showed any remorse and pleaded not guilty throughout.

Judge Codd said the attacks were “brutal and primal in nature”, and there had been an “escalation in violence.”

That fateful day has come at a significant cost for Ruth both mentally and physically.

She has been unable to return to work as an office manager in Dublin 2 “unless it is a quieter environment” and can’t drive at the moment.

Whilst her love of fitness and outdoor sports most likely saved her life in that laneway, she hasn’t been able to get back to them yet either.

Ruth Maxwell at Ennistymon, Co Clare

“Everyday things like brushing teeth, tying shoelaces are really difficult. You need so much more time. I am looking at years of occupational therapy and splints for the rest of my life.”

Slowly, Ruth is turning a corner. Her best friend Nicola Cummiskey, whom she ran the 2012 Dublin City Marathon with, has offered to retrain her physically and get Ruth back doing something she loves, on a canoe in Ennistymon, Co Clare.

 “When the stitches are out and I get the go ahead, I’m driving straight over,” said Ruth.