NORTH ST. PAUL, Minn. — A North St. Paul woman is telling her story after a man severely beat her with a baseball bat.

On November 22, Danielle Wilhelm, 20, returned home from work around 2:30 a.m. While locking her car on 3rd Street North, she saw a man approach her in the driveway with a baseball bat.

“It was kind of a game of cat and mouse for a little while,” Wilhelm said.

She went on to say, “He ended up hitting me with the bat the first time to the left side of my face and immediately I went down.”

Wilhelm said she tried protecting her head while he hit her three more times–on the right knee, right hand and then head. The assailant then ran away. Wilhelm was able to make it inside her home.

“We wake up to the most horrific screaming we’ve ever heard in our lives and come out to the dining room and your daughter is laying there screaming, full of blood… it’s been so hard,” said Danielle’s father, Ken Wilhelm.

The 20-year-old suffered from two broken bones in her cheek, one broken bone in her nose, a broken finger and over 20 stitches to her head.

“The police believe, and so do we, that I was targeted but it’s just the fact that I have no idea why. I didn’t, I can’t think of anybody that I could have made mad enough to do this,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm had returned home late from work. She was expected at drill weekend for the Army National Guard later that day. She believes the person who attacked her knew this information.

The North St. Paul Police Department is investigating the attack. No arrests have been made. However, the assailant left the baseball bat in the driveway. Police have submitted it to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for DNA testing.

Wilhelm wants people to know that this could happen to “If he would have gotten what he wanted, if he truly wanted to kill me, I would have never gotten to see my family again,” Wilhelm said.

She went on to say, “I think that hurts most. When you see your family and you’re like, ‘This person didn’t want me to ever see you again.'”

Wilhelm does not believe she knows her attacker. She described him as a white male, approximately 5’10” wearing faded blue jeans and a black hoodie. Wilhelm also remembers a mostly black bandanna with some white (possibly a logo) covering his face.

If you have any information that could lead to an arrest, contact the North St. Paul Police Department. You can also submit through the Anonymous Tip Line: 651-747-2677.