Pretty awesome this woman could do this.....




CHICAGO (AP) — Jenn Gibbons wanted to control her emotions when she rowed into Chicago, determined to complete her 1,500-mile trip around Lake Michigan despite being sexually assaulted aboard her boat in Michigan's Upper Peninsula nearly a month ago.

But when she saw her supporters waving and cheering from the shore Tuesday, including the cancer survivors for whom she was rowing, the toughness that pulled her through the waves and the emotions began to melt.

"I was smiling, then I was happy, then I started crying when I saw the team," she said, referring to Recovery on Water, or ROW, the rowing team she co-founded for breast cancer survivors that promotes exercise to reduce the chance of recurrence.

Dozens of supporters greeted the 27-year-old as she rowed into the harbor at the Chicago Yacht Club, blue skies and light winds welcoming her home. When asked about the assault, she said she felt no lingering bitterness and had full confidence in investigators looking for her attacker.

"I still believe that there are a lot more good people in the world than bad," she said, adding that she has been overwhelmed by the support she has received, including being given a Chicago flag by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The mayor wrote on the flag, "You've got this," in honor of Gibbons' voyage motto.

The trip helped raise $113,000, which ROW volunteers said they hoped would help them raise awareness about the group and purchase more boats. The group includes 50 women ranging in age from their 30s to their 70s.

Gibbons came forward about her assault shortly after it happened on July 22, in part, she said, to help police find her attacker. She said she was sleeping alone in her boat on an isolated stretch of the Upper Peninsula when she was surprised and sexually assaulted by a man who had crept on board. Michigan State Police are still looking for the man, whom they suspect may have tracked her movements through her blog.

After the assault, alternate plans were made to ensure her safety in Michigan's more remote areas. Gibbons and a small group of supporters rode bicycles together for about 350 miles to Muskegon, Mich., where she was reunited with her boat for the remainder of the journey.

Gibbons acknowledged that she has a lot of healing ahead of her and said she hasn't fully come to terms with the prospect of becoming a spokeswoman for victims of sexual assault. She's considering writing a book to help in the process, noting the piles of notes she took during her trip.

"I've been an advocate for exercise and breast cancer for years, I feel very comfortable being that person. This is talking about something I don't necessarily know how to talk about yet," she said.

"It's really hard to share all of the really good things and all of the really bad things that happened because you open yourself up, and you are extremely vulnerable to what people are going to think about you," she added. "I have a lot of healing to do, a lot of things I need to dig into."

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Supported. Pretty cool if you just look at the fact she completed the journey. Add in a sexual assault on the boat she had to spend another 3 weeks puttering around the lake and it is pretty incredible.

I hate you for me laughing at this.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Dont people usually have a support team around them when they do stunts like this? What strong determination she had, I can't believe she didnt call it quits after the attack.

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The attacker called her by name and said he knew where she lived. I assume this was some creep following her on facebook. There are a lot of dangerously strange people out there

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

My thoughts exactly... thought it deserved a shoutout. And to raise over $110,000 is amazing. I have
no idea what I would have done if Keeping Score would have assualted me on the western shore of Lake
Michigan up near where he lives....

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I tell my sister this all the time. She always posts stuff about being home alone or coming home from work late. People can see where she lives and works, it only takes one psycho out there to put two and two together.

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This stunt is almost as stupid as walking a goat here from Arizona. I hope she is roundly criticized for such a ridiculous stunt.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I am trying to picture how I would act/react the next night I had to find a dock to sleep. The closest I have ever come to being "violated" has been home invasion when I wasn't home. The next night was not an easy sleep. That experience doesn't even qualify as a comparison.

I generally like your posts but don't get this one. Roundly criticized for raising over $100,000 for cancer?

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I believe it's a shot at Bernstein for having the balls to criticize someone raising money for cancer but not doing it as well as he does it.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If it was a joke then I missed it. Sorry about that.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Ok. Bernstein has gotten under my skin the last few weeks and haven't been listening. I get to listen to
assholes all day at work. Why continue on the drive home?

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Pictures?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

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Ass

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X100000000000000.50

Some folks just don't understand that putting certain info on a public source like Facebook can be seen by a whole lot of people. Some of those people may have bad intentions.

In short, people need to use their brains.

I prefer front and back angles but this will do.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Supported. Though you can move it to the DB section if she decides to walk with a goat for charity.

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-- source

If you let anyone see your facebook page that is not your friend, then you are doing it wrong....

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@audioidkid

How does rowing get you closer to a cure?

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Dammit...I overlooked this. Badrogue beat me to it. It's a B&B reference, T-Bone.

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-- source