This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

AURORA, Colo. -- A woman in Aurora fought for her life after a man forced his way into her home and attacked her repeatedly with a hammer. She's sharing her story of survival with the hope that others will learn from her nightmare.

Aurora police said they responded to a report of a home invasion and robbery in the 4100 block of South Dunkirk Way at about 6:30 p.m. on November 18.

Editor's note: The video includes graphic images. We've made them part of the story because they show what she had to endure to save her life.

It sounds like something you would see in a horror movie. But Svetlana Martinez, 58, lived it. She fought for her life and survived.

We've all opened our front doors without thinking about who was on the other side. That decision almost cost Svetlana Martinez her life.

"I opened the door without asking. First time in my life, you know, and he just walked in and he said, 'I come over to kill you,'" she said.

Martinez is a part-time therapist. She says Filipp Kazakov, a former patient, barged into her home and attacked her with a hammer. She says he claimed she was a KGB agent and stealing energy from him.

"I have broken bones in the top of my brain," she said.

She tried to cover her head as one blow became another, and another. "It was like he took off my thumb. My thumb was touching my arm."

She ran for the door but was knocked down the stairs. "He missed punching me and he punched the wall."

Somehow, Martinez then managed to stagger into a storage room, throwing her body against the door. That move saved her life.

"I'm so glad because I blocked the door using my body, my legs. "

The attacker eventually left.

But for Martinez, the struggle to survive was far from over.

She lost consciousness for more than an hour. She was bleeding profusely. "I cannot open my eyes. I cannot talk but thank god I don't lose my memory. None of them.

A neighbor had no idea what was happening next door to her.

"I think she came out that door after she was sure he wasn't going to come, and I think she must have sat over there. You can see the blood over there," the neighbor said.

Martinez eventually made her way back up the stairs. She said she doesn't remember how she climbed up the steps.

She made it to another neighbor's house.

Martinez had a broken arm, hand and seven fractures to her skull.

Remarkably, she survived.

"I open the door for no one anymore."

The suspect, 45-year-old Filipp Kazakov, was arrested on November 18.