I was battered black and blue by thug when I stopped him abusing his girlfriend on holiday, says Chloe Ferry’s pal
A FRIEND of reality star Chloe Ferry was left with two broken eye sockets after being battered by a thug while on holiday in Portugal.
Gabriela Violante, 22, says she tried to intervene when she saw a man "screaming" at his girlfriend but ended up being knocked to the ground by him.
Geordie Shore star Chloe branded the attack "f***ing disgusting" on social media.
Gabriela, from Newcastle, said she and her friends were leaving NoSoloÁgua beach club in Portimao on Sunday when they saw a girl they had been chatting to inside crying.
She told The Sun: "We asked her why she was crying and she said her boyfriend had hit her.
"We could see him shouting and screaming from the other side.
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"His friend was trying to push him back because he was getting so aggressive towards her.
"So we said to him 'why are you screaming and shouting at her?'"
Gabriela - who works at Chloe's salon CM House Of Aesthetics - says the man, also a Brit, then unleashed a tirade of abuse towards her and her pals.
She added: "We started walking away from him and were waiting for our friends to get a taxi, but he was still screaming and shouting.
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";So I walked over to him and told him to calm down, and he ended up pushing me and I went flying.
"I think I then went to push him back, but as I did he punched me straight in the face.
"I'm not even sure if it was once or twice. I just remember the pain.
"I was on the floor, and he ran away before the police came."
Gabriela was rushed to hospital where she underwent a number of X-rays and scans.
She was then transferred to another hospital before being discharged and reunited with her friends.
Gabriela and her pals later flew back to the UK, where medics told her she had suffered two broken eye sockets and a fractured nose.
She says her attacker got on a flight back to the UK soon after the assault - but she is hoping Portuguese police will track him down.
Gabriela added: "I was just trying to calm down the situation. I'm not a shy person, I'm not scared of many things so I was fine going up to him.
"For him to attack me like that, I was gobsmacked, to be honest.
"There was so much anger in him, I can't explain it. Who else is he going to do that to?"
Gabriela has been forced to take time off work as she recovers from her horror injuries.
She said: "I'm just glad to be home.
"I've only just started to be able to open my eyes. They had to stitch the cuts on my eyelids together.
"I don't feel like I ever want to go out clubbing or anything ever again, I wouldn't want to be involved in anyone drinking around me ever again."
Metropolitan Police said it is a matter for Portuguese cops to investigate
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A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are assisting a British woman after an incident in Portugal and are in contact with the local authorities."
The Sun has contacted Policia Maritima for comment.
