My story:

November 2022 i was raped and sexually assaulted by my boyfriend at the time. By someone i trusted with my whole life. In one night, he turned my whole life upside down. I spent years telling myself different things i could have done to prevent it, blaming myself for what had happened. And I spent 4 years convincing myself it hadn’t happened. Whenever anyone mentioned his name my heart would instantly drop and i’d feel a sudden sense of fear run through my body, but i suffered in silence. This resulted in me having depression today and at one point it completely took over my life. To this day i still have flashbacks, still have nightmares relating to men trying to kill or rape me, i can’t fall asleep without my medication and background noise on. He has completely changed my life and i will forever hate him for that. I never deserved it. I hit rock bottom at one point, lost many friends and felt as though i had nothing else to give, as if life was no longer worth living. But my friends and family today kept and still keep me going- i will forever be grateful. This is a trauma i will live with for the rest of my life, hearing his name still haunts me and sends me right back to that moment. But i will still keep living, doing the things i love, spending time with the people i love because this experience does not label me. I am running the London Marathon, April 25th 2027, to show that this is my body, my life and i can do anything i put my mind to, no matter how challenging. This is my story, thank you for reading, please donate anything you can to Serric so survivors like me can receive free and proper counselling to help manage with the trauma.