DeLAND, Fla. – A receptionist at the DeLand Animal Hospital spoke to News 6 after alerting police of a domestic abuse situation Friday.
DeLand police said that a woman handed staff members a note that said: "Call the cops. My boyfriend is threatening me. He has a gun. Please don't let him know."
The employee, Darla Fadden, said she isn't calling herself a hero, and instead said that she simply did what anyone would do.
"My tech was sitting at the computer. I was standing next to her and this is where she handed off the note," said Fadden. "Then we just kind of locked eyes for a moment and thought, 'Oh!'"
Fadden said after handing over the note, the victim walked back into an exam room.
With her in the exam room was her boyfriend, Jeremy Floyd, 39. The couple were there to have their dog checked for an ear infection.
"That right there is when I went to call 911 so that he couldn't hear me on the phone and alert him to what went wrong," said Fadden.
Fadden said that she read aloud to the dispatcher what the note said.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said that Floyd had been holding the victim against her will for days, after abusing her in their DeLand home.
"The one thing that I can see in my mind is her hand shaking. And I don't think I'll ever get that out of my mind," said Fadden.
[Click here to learn how to get help for domestic violence victims]
Staff members said they quietly escorted everyone out of the lobby and then hid in the bathroom as DeLand police officers approached the room.
The report states that officers found a loaded handgun on Floyd, which resulted in him being arrested on several charges, including assault and false imprisonment.
"She is really the hero of this whole thing for reaching out to get help," said Fadden. "I just did it. I just, it's what anybody would have done."
As of Monday night, Floyd was still being held in the Volusia County Jail on a $57,000 bond.
News 6 spoke over the phone with the victim's sister, who said that she hopes her sister reaching out for help inspires others in a domestic abuse situation.
She also created this GoFundMe account to help relocate her sister from the home she shared with Fadden.