A woman has been left unsure whether or not her relationship will survive after her boyfriend jokingly pretended to push her into the Grand Canyon.
The couple recently took a trip to the breathtaking Arizona landmark, and he'd been well aware of her mortal fear of heights beforehand.
Her terror is so intense that she will often struggle when standing near windows or railings, however, she didn't want to miss out on seeing the iconic rock formation.
Prior to visiting the 6,000-foot-deep canyon, the anonymous woman had several in-depth conversations about her phobia, wanting to ensure that he'd help her maintain a comfortable distance from the edge.
She also opened up to him about how scared she was about potentially having a panic attack in front of people, something which she has, unfortunately, had to deal with in the past.
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Her boyfriend reassured her that he would take every care to calm her down if she became too frightened, and promised to help keep her well away from the dizzying drop.
However, taking to Reddit, the petrified woman recalled how he ended up making light of her extreme phobia, pretending to shove her into the canyon as a cruel joke.
The poster - who goes by the username u/grandcanyonpush - wrote: "On day one on our tour, we stopped at a scenic lookout to take pictures and he decided it’d be funny to grab me and pretend to try and push me over the edge of the cliff.
"I immediately freaked out and (unsurprisingly) had a panic attack, all in front of our group while the poor guide tried to calm me down."
This led to a fierce argument between the two, with the poster branding her other half as 'evil' and telling him that it was no wonder his ex ditched him. He yelled at her that it had been intended as a joke, telling her that she was embarrassing them both.
The tour guide ended up having to separate the warring couple, taking her back to the office. When she returned to the hotel, he wasn't in their room, and her anger hadn't cooled.
Leaving a note behind, she headed straight to the airport and flew over to stay at her parents' house for a while. She is now taking some time out to think over whether or not their relationship even has a future.
A number of their mutual friends have accused her of overreacting, having only heard his side of the story, and are angry at her for having left him all alone in Arizona. She's now starting to question whether she did the right thing.
However, a number of Reddit users have since reassured her that her feelings are completely valid, with her boyfriend having seriously broken her trust.
One person wrote: "He doesn't respect you, absolutely cannot be trusted, and sounds like a dangerous liability. Get rid.
"Regarding the hate you are getting, I would imagine he told a very skewed version of the story. The way you've written it, your actions are understandable. Maybe telling your side of the story will dampen down the hate. What he did is indefensible."
Another said: "This relationship needs to be over. His ex was right to leave him. He is immature and cruel and not somebody you can trust, full stop. You communicated perfectly what you needed from him and he did the opposite.
"Block the a******* who are harassing you. Tell your best friends to tell others the true version of the story, and those who are worth being friends with will approach you with an apology. The rest can go take a hike."
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