“‘WHAT IS GOING ON?’ Everyone was screaming. My friend fell and was getting trampled. I worried for my unborn child. When the second plane hit, we ran.”
‘OH MY GOD! BOMB!’ An old lady was holding onto the banister for dear life. I had to leave her. All I could hear was sobbing.’: Mom recounts surviving 9/11 while pregnant, ‘I’m blessed to be alive’
‘I explained my past. ‘The man took photographs. He was 57 years old.’ I hated myself and turned to drugs.’: Woman with BPD gets sober, changes life, ‘I love how far I’ve come’
“I struggled to talk to the therapist. I explained what I went through when I was 12. I encountered a child predator. Having my son pushed me to find the answers as to what happened.”
‘In between breaths, I sobbed, ‘Breathe, baby. Please. Please, breathe.’ They placed my tiny infant onto a gurney.’: Mom raises awareness about RSV, Kawasaki’s Disease after hospital scare
“For seven days, she was a medical mystery.”
‘No one tells you it’s going to be this hard. The second they take their first breath will also be the day you’ll begin to forever hold your own.’: Mom gushes ‘it is all worth it’
“You’ll wish more than anything to return to yesterday, to go back for just one day, to witness their first smile, revel in their first giggle, and be serenaded by their very first coos.”
‘Are you sitting down?’ I was carrying a little one incompatible with life. I’ve prayed like I’ve never prayed.’: Mom grieves loss of 2 newborns to rare chromosome condition
“I was completely inconsolable, bawling, unable to pull myself together. ‘I just don’t want to ever have to do this!’ She had lived, breathed, and been loved completely.”
To The Firefighter Who Saved Me On 9/11: I Will Live Life To The Fullest In Your Honor
“I will live, never in vain of his heroism.”
‘I smashed the window while holding my son. ‘Go buy essential oils,’ the nurse told me. I was pushed aside.’: Mom of 2 advocates for postpartum depression, ‘There’s no need to suffer in silence’
“If you feel like this again, call and I’ll talk you off the ledge.’ I was ashamed to admit I was having thoughts of harming myself. It triggered something I have never experienced: intense rage.”
‘I was shut upstairs, locked away. ‘There must be something wrong with me.’ Sex was learned from books. I felt unsafe.’: Woman leaves past life, walks 500 miles, ‘I let others love me’
“At 12, my grandmother looked me in the eye and said, ‘If you want to go to the gym, I’ll pay. I think you need it.’ I was the girl who drank 25 shots in a row and took her clothes off in a room full of people. I felt dead inside.”
’38 weeks pregnant with twins, the doctor said, ‘Your other son has cancer wrapped around all his organs.’: Recovered addict urges ’embrace the challenges’ after birthing twins, Neuroblastoma survivor
“The only words I could get out were, ‘He won’t die, right? He won’t die.’ As long as I live, I will never forget the doctor’s response: ’50/50 chance.’ He called me an ‘idiot’ for wanting to place him on a second treatment trial. ‘We need to stop.’ I knew it was right for our boy.”
‘Numbness consumed my whole left side. ‘You’re tying your boots too tight.’ The next thing I knew, I collapsed.’: Navy Ordinanceman battles MS during leave, ‘Be the person you need to be’
“I couldn’t move nor feel the entire left side of my face. I chewed a hole on the inside of my cheek due to no feeling. Looking at my mom and sisters’ faces filled with tears, I knew it wasn’t good.”