Famed soprano Ainhoa Arteta has revealed that she was raped in New York when she was 25-years-old.

The soprano revealed the information on the show “Retratos con Alma” on TVE in Spain. Arteta explained that the incident took place when she was living in a suburban apartment in New York while building her career and right before performing “Clorinda” in Palm Beach.

“It was a very difficult episode in my life, one in which I was almost killed. That person didn’t only rape me, but almost killed me,” she confessed. “This happened to me on the day that I was perform in an opera for the first time.”

She noted that because of her upcoming performance, she didn’t get time to really deal with the situation and the pain it caused.

“The police told me that I should be happy I didn’t end up dead. It is something that haunts you for the rest of your life,” she added.

Here is the interview, in Spanish.

Traumas que se aparcan y que marcan para toda la vida. Ainhoa Arteta (@Ainhoarteta) contó por primera vez en público en #RetratosConAlma7 la agresión sexual que sufrió cuando vivía en Nueva York, el mismo día que consiguió su primera ópera ➡https://t.co/sFlb4CDLUv pic.twitter.com/ASFU9Sv65j

— RTVE (@rtve) July 9, 2019