Bride-to-be Canada Rinaldi’s bachelorette party took a south turn as the 27-year-old sustained multiple injuries while celebrating in Dallas, Texas over the weekend.
Originally from Oklahoma, she was in Dallas to celebrate with her friends on Saturday, March 22. Her injuries were extremely severe to the extent that a member of the bridal party, Kirsten McDowell, set up a GoFundMe page to cover her medical bills.
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A fun night gone wrong
What was supposed to be a fun night turned into a miserable one as Rinaldi sustained a broken nose, broke three teeth, and required eight stitches to her face due to a violent assault on what was supposed to be “one of the happiest nights of her life.”
What happened on that fateful night
Rinaldi was attacked on Sunday, March 23, at around 2 a.m. local time when she was headed with her friends to their Uber after leaving a club in Deep Ellum, as reported by People.
Rinaldo also told the outlet on March 27 that she is doing fine now after being hit and left unconscious on the pavement.
She doesn’t recall the attack
“I don’t remember the attack; I only remember walking to my Uber and then being in and out of the ambulance and hospital,” she told People.
She also told the outlet that the fact that the police now had a possible named suspect gave her “a lot of peace of mind.”
She’s having a wedding nevertheless
“My face is healing so quickly I will be almost if not fully healed on the outside by the wedding depending how my nose heals. I will still have the best day of my life with the person I love no matter what I look like!” She added.
Her future aunt-in-law was also hit
Rinaldi’s future aunt-in-law, Kelly Peralta, also fell victim to the assault after she attempted to push the attacker away from Rinaldi.
“We started walking across the street to get into the Uber, and that’s when he came from behind and he punched Canada, and she went straight down, and I turned to push him away, and that’s when he got me,” Peralta recalled, according to NBC 5 DFW.
She raised over $12,900 through GoFundMe
“Just 24 hours earlier, [Rinaldi] had told us she was having ‘the best trip of her life.’ That happiness was ripped away from her in an instant, turning it into the most terrifying and traumatizing night she’s ever experienced,” the description on the GoFundMe page read.
“She is now trying to heal—not only physically, but emotionally and financially—when she should be counting down the days to her wedding. Please consider helping her during this heartbreaking time. No one should have to face something like this, let alone carry the cost of their own trauma,” the message continued.
