A model has refused to accept £20,000 compensation awarded to her by a Spanish court for her terrifying rape ordeal.
Cheryl Maddison, 26, was brutally attacked by Moroccan waiter Mohamed Fadel el Anssari in May 2008, just days after starting work in a bar in the popular holiday resort.
He raped her and stabbed her repeatedly in the neck, throat and back, before leaving her for dead.
Now, Miss Maddison, who has just become engaged to boyfriend Kaine Macdonald, has claimed she has rejected a £20,000 sum from the provincial court in Palma, Mallorca, where, earlier this year, her attacker was sentenced to a 23-year jail term.
Taking to her Facebook page on Wednesday, she wrote: "Feeling extremely proud of myself.
"Should have been receiving 20 thousand pound on Monday from the court in Spain.
"However in January at court I said I didn't want a single penny from that man!
He raped her and stabbed her repeatedly in the neck, throat and back, before leaving her for dead.
Now, Miss Maddison, who has just become engaged to boyfriend Kaine Macdonald, has claimed she has rejected a £20,000 sum from the provincial court in Palma, Mallorca, where, earlier this year, her attacker was sentenced to a 23-year jail term.
Taking to her Facebook page on Wednesday, she wrote: "Feeling extremely proud of myself.
"Should have been receiving 20 thousand pound on Monday from the court in Spain.
"However in January at court I said I didn't want a single penny from that man!
“Anything we want in life we will work for it.”
Her friends were quick to congratulate her decision.
Lisa Connor wrote: "Am very proud of ya hunni. Onwards and upwards!"
Kelly Alderson added: "No amount of money will take away and make up for what he did babe. You certainly don't need it."
Miss Maddison, of Sunderland, had just embarked on what should have been a dream life on the sunshine isle of Mallorca when the evil attacker struck.
She was left fighting for her life in hospital for 10 days after Fadel el Assari raped her and tried to kill her - throttling her so hard she passed out.
He also pulled clumps of her long blonde hair out during the frenzied sex attack.
Miss Maddison later revealed she was forced to play dead in a desperate bid to survive.
At the time, she said: “When I came round, I was lying on the floor and covered in my own blood.
"I had a searing pain in my chest and I could hardly breathe.
"I looked down and saw blood spurting out of a hole in my chest.
“I screamed as he attacked me again. I was convinced I was going to die – he was so violent and angry, I never thought I’d get out alive.”
In February this year, Spanish judges sentenced Fadel el Assari to 11 years for rape and 12 years for attempted murder.
Since the harrowing attack, Miss Maddison - who waived her anonymity - has spoken of her determination to regain her confidence and focus on her modelling career.
The petite blonde, who is signed to NE Models agency, has taken part in dozens of photo shoots for clothing firms and has started a new job as a duty manager at a club.
She has also recently celebrated her engagement to Kaine, who was by her side when she travelled to Mallorca at the start of the year to give evidence against her attacker.
