A Forgotten Girl

My story is one of strength and resilience, of overcoming and achieving, against all the odds. I was born in a small country town in NSW, Australia, to two uneducated parents, both of whom suffered from alcoholism. My mother would go on to have many affairs, and I would end up having seven siblings, and five fathers, across my lifetime. The first half of my life is a complex mess of physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse, neglect, substance abuse, domestic violence, and parental...
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My story is one of strength and resilience, of overcoming and achieving, against all the odds. I was born in a small country town in NSW, Australia, to two uneducated parents, both of whom suffered from alcoholism. My mother would go on to have many affairs, and I would end up having seven siblings, and five fathers, across my lifetime. The first half of my life is a complex mess of physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse, neglect, substance abuse, domestic violence, and parental alienation. I was sexually abused by my first stepfather at the age of seven, which escalated to rape at the age of eight. These experiences would lead to me continuing the intergenerational trauma cycle as I got older. When I was thirteen, I discovered a way to numb my pain and the memories of the abuse I had suffered through as a child, turning to drugs. I began smoking weed, and within a few short months, I was injecting methamphetamines and ingesting anything else I could get my hands on. I began an affair with my much older, drug dealer, when I was fifteen, and this led to a seven-year relationship, filled with more physical and sexual assault, as I slowly turned into my mother. I would go on to have two daughters with my abuser, with my love for them being the motivation I needed to change my life completely. I began to plan my escape, and leaving with nothing and no support, except for one lone friend, I managed to achieve the incredible against all the odds and found a way out. I went back and completed my education, starting with a Diploma in Counselling and a Diploma in Youth Justice. I spent the next seven years working with kids from complex trauma backgrounds and I now work as a 000-call taker and dispatcher for the QLD Ambulance Service. I am happily married to a kind man, and we have raised five happy healthy children together. I also recently began fostering my brothers two children and their sister. A remarkable story of endurance.