They dated for two years. Then he tried to rip out her tongue.

The gruesome wounds on Carleigh Hager’s head, face and arms look like the handiwork of a wild animal, with bite marks and bruises and cuts covering the 25-year-old’s body.

But the marks aren’t the result of any feral being. They came, allegedly, from Hager’s ex-boyfriend, according to court documents.

Hager and Ryan Cameron had been dating for two years when they returned to their Indianapolis home from a friend’s wedding Saturday night, accompanied by several friends, according to KTLA. Though Cameron had begun to physically and verbally abuse her a month before, Hager said she had not told anyone.

After Cameron began to insult and verbally abuse her, Hager said she went into the couple’s bedroom. Cameron followed her into the room, hit her in the face and began to strangle her, according to WTTV. Their friends were able to remove Cameron from the room, but he returned and locked the door before the friends could intervene.

After that, Cameron locked the two in the bathroom, where he proceeded to attack her, biting and punching her shoulders, arms, ear, back and neck before attempting to rip her tongue out. Hager said.

“He tried to rip my tongue out with his bare fingers from here all the way up to here and he succeeded, half way. He got the right side halfway. He got it halfway ripped out,” Hager said.

A piece of Hager’s ear appears to have been bitten off, and one of the bites on her forehead cut all the way to the skull, according to WTTV.

Hager’s friends called the police after they were locked out, and when officers arrived on the scene, they found both Cameron and Hager covered in blood. According to WXIN, Cameron answered the door and attempted to stop the officers from entering, saying everything was OK. Police said they could hear Hager crying in the bathroom, with “massive” amounts of blood on the floor and walls.

Cameron was taken into custody on suspicion of aggravated battery and strangulation, according to WXIN. Hager, meanwhile, was transported to the hospital, where she needed emergency surgery to reattach her tongue, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Hager has given interviews from her hospital bed and said she hopes that by sharing her story, others will gain the courage to speak up and escape unhealthy relationships.

“You just can’t believe that,” Hager told WXIN. “You have to tell somebody. You can’t be embarrassed. You can’t be ashamed. You have to tell somebody because I almost died and it can happen.”

Hager’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for her medical bills. The page has been shared more than 7,000 times on Facebook and the campaign has raised more than $16,500 in one day.

"It's going to be a long road to recovery, but she is a strong woman from strong stock and we will overcome," Hager’s mother, Amy Ballard told the Star.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "They dated for two years. Then he tried to rip out her tongue.."