Wisconsin Girl Who Survived 19 Stab Wounds Returns to School

The 12-year-old Wisconsin girl who nearly died after she was stabbed 19 times is back in school.

A spokesman for the girl's family says it has been a summer of doctor's appointments, surgeries, specialists and recovery. Stephen Lyons says the girl has been eager to go back to school in Waukesha. She started the 7th grade on Tuesday.

Lyons said the girl and her family continue to attend therapy sessions to deal with the emotional scars of the ordeal.

A fundraiser held Aug. 29 raised more than $70,000 to help the family with medical bills.

Court documents say two classmates plotted for months to kill the girl to curry favor with a fictional Slender Man character they read about online. They told investigators they believed Slender Man had a mansion in a Wisconsin forest and they planned to go live with him after the slaying.

One of the girls hosted the other two at a May 30 slumber party to celebrate her birthday. The next morning, the two girls attacked the victim in a wooded Waukesha park. One told investigators that she told the victim to lie down and be quiet after the stabbing so that she would lose blood more slowly.

The girl said she hoped to convince the victim to be quiet so the victim would not draw attention to them and would die.

Once the attackers left, the 12-year-old victim crawled from the woods to a road where a passing bicyclist found her. Doctors later told police the girl had narrowly escaped death because the knife missed a major artery near her heart by just one millimeter.

One of two preteens accused in the stabbing has been ordered to receive treatment rather than stand trial.