Former “Baywatch” actress Donna D’Errico stepped forward Wednesday with a terrifying account of being raped at age 22.
D’Errico, 49, who starred as lifeguard Donna Marco on the popular TV show from 1996 to 1998, told “Inside Edition” that the attack happened while she vacationing in Panama City Beach, Florida.
She said she got separated from friends in search of a restroom when a man grabbed her and forced her into his car. He drove her to an isolated area and raped her, she said.
“I thought he was going to finish what he was doing and kill me,” D’Errico, who also appeared on “Baywatch Nights,” said in the interview.
He left her naked in a wooded area, and D’Errico said she walked to a highway and waved down a passing truck.
“I never told anybody because I was just so ashamed of what had happened to me,” she said. “I started blaming myself for the way I was dressed. I was, like, well, I brought this on myself because I was dressed so sexy.”
D’Errico said she was emboldened to tell her story by the many women who have revealed their own experiences of being preyed upon in the #MeToo online movement. The movement has flourished in the wake of mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Later, on Twitter, D’Errico noted the “dark memories” she had shared, and danced to Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” to “lighten the mood.”
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
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