‘I didn’t agree to go out with an MMA fighter — and he punched me’

Anne Marie Boyle ended up with a broken cheekbone, brain injury and lasting trauma Anne Marie Boyle Important: This report contains descriptions of assaults that may be disturbing to some readers. A beautician said that a single punch from an MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter one night changed her life forever. Anne Marie Boyle was knocked unconscious when she was punched after rejecting Sean McInnes’ advances in a bar in Scotland, in September 2024. A mother of two, she says she is “lucky to be alive.” Boyle suffered a fractured orbit and cheek bone. But she says the attack also left her with a brain injury and subsequent seizures, which caused her to lose her business, her driving license and her self-confidence. McInnes had participated in an important muay thai competition, Thai boxing. He was jailed in March for 21 months. Boyle is a beauty therapist who owns her own successful company. On the night of the incident, she was with her cousins ​​in a pub in East Kilbride, in the South Lanarkshire council area of ​​Scotland. She told the BBC that she normally didn’t go to that bar, but they went to watch a performance. Boyle is 38 years old and says that what was, until then, a calm night ended up turning into a nightmare that changed his life. “My daughter had soccer the next day,” she said. “So I knew I was going to be driving, and I actually wasn’t drinking much that night.” See the videos that are trending on g1 “That guy kept approaching the table. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer. He wouldn’t leave us alone.” Boyle claims he had never seen him before. “Looking back now, there were certainly warning signs, like ignoring boundaries,” she says. “Someone asked me ‘do you think he just doesn’t understand ‘no’?’ In fact, he understood ‘no,’ it just wasn’t the answer he wanted.” When the bar closed, Boyle and his friends left to walk home. She told McInnes: “Please go the opposite way.” But he continued to pester them. “Verbal attacks, shouting, screaming in our faces, he grew on us, he wouldn’t let us go”, says Boyle. Sean McInnes was an MMA fighter and had competed in the Lion Fight 68 event, an important muay thai competition Reproduction “Remembering, there were only two outcomes. Either he would follow his path, or that would happen. And everything just escalated.” McInnes took part in the Lion Fight 68 muay thai competition. She says he pushed her cousin so hard that “she was screaming”. Seconds later, he punched Boyle in the face. “I became unconscious,” according to her. “Immediately afterwards, he punched another boy and knocked him unconscious.” They didn’t know McIness was an MMA fighter. “I’ve never felt pain like that,” continues Anne Marie Boyle. “I think he knew exactly where to hit me.” Anne Marie Boyle suffered a fractured orbit and cheek bone due to the attack Anne Marie Boyle The pain in her face and teeth was anguish. “I remember a police officer came and asked me ‘are you okay?’ He said I was bleeding from the back of my head.” Boyle was in hospital for three weeks and was diagnosed with functional neurological disorder (FND). She says that this condition causes the brain to stop sending signals to the body, causing seizures. Now, she also suffers from involuntary tremors and chronic pain. This entire ordeal had immense repercussions on his life. Unable to work, she lost her business and her driver’s license was revoked as it is unsafe for her to get behind the wheel. “My life is completely different,” she says. “I can’t go out alone. My anxiety is very strong and now I don’t know what people’s intentions are.” She highlights that her mental symptoms are sometimes worse than her physical ones. And he also says it was “horrible” going through the court process and seeing McInnes’ face again. Making the world safer for women McInnes maintained her innocence until her trial day, when she finally acknowledged the attack. Boyle was disappointed he did not receive a longer sentence. “He’s going to get out and go back to his family and his kids. He’s going to be able to drive and go back to work. And I can’t work because I could fall at any moment.” She wants to make people aware of the risks posed by people like McInnes. And she wants to make the world safer for women, like her two daughters. “I have two daughters who need me and I have many people around me who love me,” she says. “That love is what helps me get through this.” “I’m telling this story because I don’t want this to happen to other people who may not have the same support system, who may not be as strong, who may not have the resilience.”

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