WARNING: This image of domestic violence may cause distress but her story needs to be told

Money tensions, unrealistic expectations and excessive alcohol consumption during the “festive” season mean a spike in domestic abuse call-outs for police. The stories of these two women are just two examples of the dark side of Christmas.

A desperate mum has used Facebook to beg for help after being beaten by her husband and left a bloodied mess.

Susann Stacy from Kentucky in the US feared for her life after being savagely beaten by her husband. He used a loaded gun to assault her, later dumping the weapon next to their son’s toys in the yard. Before fleeing the house he pulled the home phone out of the wall.

In desperation, she used a WiFi connection to post the photo online as a cry for help. SHe took a photo of her battered and bloodied face, posting it on Facebook with the following message:

One of her friends saw the post and called the police.

"She had several lacerations to the head. They appeared to be bad but we really couldn't tell at the time, due to her hair was matted to her, and the blood," Leslie County Sheriff's Deputy Sam Mullins told WKYT-TV.

Deputy Mullins said it appeared Donnie Stacy had hit his wife repeatedly with the gun following a fight. He has been arrested and is facing assault charges at the Leslie County Detention Center.

Susann has refused all requests for interviews and is at home with her one-year-old son. She has applied for an emergency protective order against her husband.

Alarmingly, Deputy Mullins explained that such domestic violence incidents aren't uncommon over the holidays due to financial stress and job losses in the area. "People are low on money due to the holidays and you throw in where these miners and people are laid off from their jobs and stuff that just adds more stress to these families and they tend to fight," he told WKYT TV.

We fail to understand the connection between money stress and beating the mother of your children or any woman. Any person of sound mind wouldn't take this course of action and we continue to hope that domestic violence stands alone as a serious crime, not as a lesser crime because it occurs in the home between people who are meant to love each other.

Sadly, Sanaz Nezami died as a result of domestic violence just weeks before Christmas.

She had just arrived from Iran to start a new life in America. She was only 27 and studying to be an engineer at Michigan Technological University when she met her fate.

This poor woman died as a result of a fatal beating by her new husband.

Sanaz and Nima Sassiri first met online and then in Turkey in August. They were married and moved in together in LA, where he was born and raised.

Sanaz had asked her to proof-read a document for her. "I was shocked,'' Sara Nezami told The Daily Mail. "Sanaz was a very precise girl, but she omitted some lines. I asked, 'Are you OK?' She told me there was no problem.''

The next day Sanaz was rushed to hospital with a severe brain injury as a result of a brain injury resulting from an earlier beating. She died on December 9.

What makes this story even more extraordinary is that her family was allowed to watch her final moments via a laptop. Hospital staff had trouble contacting any next-of-kin so turned to Google and tracked her family down.

They weren't able to travel to her bedside in time and were instead allowed to watch online and consult with her doctors who advised them that the brain damage was too extensive. The family decided to donate her organs. They then watched a nurse at Marquette General Hospital kiss Sanaz on the head on their behalf as their final goodbye.

"We wanted God to perform a miracle and bring Sanaz back to life,'' her sister Sara Nezami told The Daily Mail. "But this is a miracle. Sanaz gave her life in order to give life.''

Nima Nassiri has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic violence, please contact the Domestic Violence Helpline on 1800 800 098 or call your local police.

You are not alone.

Images courtesy of Facebook and WKYT