Adam Kinzinger suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after saving a woman from being killed by her boyfriend

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger reflects on a defining moment that shaped his life and career.

In the new documentation The last Republican Kinzinger, 46, who served as the U.S. representative from Illinois from 2011 to 2023 – which opened Friday at New York’s Film Forum – talks about the course of his career and a violent encounter in 2006 that changed the course of his life.

Kinzinger had just returned from pilot training and was leaving a German restaurant in Milwaukee at 12:26 a.m. when he saw a frightening sight. “I’m walking to my car when I hear a commotion and this girl comes running towards me, holding her throat and bleeding out,” he recalls in the documentary.

Kinzinger only had a split second to decide whether to intervene and risk his own life – a decision he admits he didn’t make lightly. “They say that in a crisis, half of people run away, 40% freeze and 10% act. I felt every single one of those emotions,” he says. “If someone had whispered ‘run’ to me, I would have run.”

Ultimately, his conscience wouldn’t let him get away with it. “There were two immediate thoughts that came to mind. The first was, “If I act, I will die.” The second was, “If I watch this woman die and do nothing, I won’t be able to live with myself for the rest of my life.” ”

Kinzinger engaged in a tense fight with the attacker, which he describes as a “close struggle.”

“I had his knife hand and I remember consciously feeling the knife hand trying to stab me,” he says. “It’s not a matter of pride now, it’s a matter of life to win.”

After managing to pin the man to the ground and wait for police to arrive, Kinzinger was able to walk away, but it took him months to process what had happened. “I had blood everywhere. For some reason I couldn’t bring myself to wash the shirt that had so much blood on it,” he says. “It stayed in the corner of my room and then about two or three months later I realized I had post-traumatic stress disorder… That moment on that street in Milwaukee completely changed my life.”

Although he doesn’t regret his decision to intervene, Kinzinger admits he’s not sure he would make the same decision today. “If you make the decision to give up your life for a stranger, I mean, how can that not change you?” he says, getting emotional. “I never want to do that again, and I hope – if it ever happened to me again, I’m not sure I would make the same decision.”

Despite his ambivalence, the incident had a lasting effect on him. “Do I think I would have sat here today and talked about what happened in my congressional career, or if I would have even had a congressional career without the incident in Milwaukee? Probably not.”

Since that night, Kinzinger’s life has taken many turns. He served in Congress for over a decade before his political career abruptly ended in 2023 after he was one of two Republican representatives to vote to create a committee to investigate the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He also served on the committee where he condemned former President Donald Trump’s alleged involvement.

“I don’t think what I did was brave,” Kinzinger says of his isolation within the GOP. “I just think I’m surrounded by cowards.”

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Kinzinger, now CNN’s senior political commentator, draws a parallel between the stabbing and his political career, saying, “What can you say about it other than it’s an honor to be allowed to act?” Still, there’s that creeping cynicism Things like the January 6th attack. Why would you try to defend these people? They hate you.”

Looking forward, Kinzinger says he’s focused on “fighting against that cynicism,” adding, “I don’t want the second half of my life to be when I’m not willing to put my life on the line for people… .” Even MAGA people – maybe especially them because they need inspiration or something they’re not getting.”

“They are lied to and mistreated,” he continues. “That’s the struggle of the second part of my life: making sure I can stay afloat and find that again – find that inspiration again.”

The last Republican is currently playing at the Film Forum in New York City before opening in other cities.