“Finally, after a long ten year battle, and a few amazing people, I urged the police department to re-open my case.”

‘I asked a friend to hold my drink while I went to the restroom and she set the drink down. We always stuck together but my friend went home with a guy, breaking our agreed upon friend code.’

‘He was found dead in his bed. At 21, I was pregnant. My ex-boyfriend refused to believe the baby was his.’: Woman realizes recovery is possible after years of addiction
“My depression was spiraling – I started snorting my Adderall and selling it to pay for alcohol. He was older. I had my first serious boyfriend. That is the night my destiny changed.”

‘No one will miss you.’ I said goodbye to my kids. Everything went white.’: Woman thanks husband’s ‘mistress’ for ‘saving her’ after abuser attempts to take her life
“He briefly took his hand off of my throat and forced the barrel into my mouth. This was my gun, and I couldn’t stop him from turning it on me. I said goodbye to my kids, in my head. I thought of them coming downstairs to find me dead. His phone buzzed, and he stopped. His mistress was at the house. MPs, SWAT, NCIS, and a case worker. Every military wife in the neighborhood was outside my home, gawking.”

‘I’ll catch you.’ My husband was chasing me. It was 28 degrees outside. I ran 2 miles, barefoot, to the police station, for my life.’: Mother finds courage to leave abusive husband after realizing this is ‘not love’
“The next morning, I tried to sit up, and that’s when I knew something had happened. My husband was sleeping like a baby next to me but his knuckles looked bruised and swollen. I scanned the room for my phone, and noticed it placed neatly on his bedside table… only mine was smashed beyond repair.”

‘These people were our ‘friends.’ I couldn’t wrap my head around someone wanting to hurt my son.’: Daycare teacher’s husband abuses little boy, mom says she’s ‘extremely grateful’ her son ‘lived’
“I thought I’d pop in and check on my son. My child is a happy child and lights up when he sees me. I got there and he was asleep on the couch. I tried waking him up and he would barely open his eyes. knew something was wrong. When I began examining his head, I noticed it was swollen. Richard said my son fell off a rocking chair, but that my son was ‘acting fine’ so he didn’t call me.”

‘My dad got very angry at me for crying. I was a tiny, 5-week-old baby. He shook me, threw me against a wall.’: Survivor of shaken baby syndrome’s powerful account so ‘other babies won’t have to go through this too’
“I lived with a new family, but things weren’t so good there either. I wasn’t gaining weight and my day care was very concerned about me – a lot of people were, I guess. When DHS finally came to take me, I was found on the floor in animal waste. My new mommy seemed very excited to meet me. I felt safe and loved right away. My new family never left me alone.”

‘A well-dressed man approached, I got in his car and he drove me to a wooded area. He kept me all night.’: Woman details her runaway journey with beautiful kindnesses along the way
“When I was 5 years old, one of my earliest memories is of my mother dropping me out of a two-story window which resulted in both of my arms being broken.”

‘I was 20, got drugged, sexually assaulted and pregnant. ‘Why did you keep the baby?’ Well, this baby was a MIRACLE.’: Single mom overcomes abusive relationship to find her ‘prince charming’
“When my son was 10 months old, I fell in love with a guy who I thought was the one. I was positive I was going to marry him. Everything was great – or so it seemed. He would go through my phone. He’d go from saying how much he loved my child, to saying he would hit him after taking his diaper off. Later, I met my price charming. Did I mention he was excited to date a single mom? I have a keeper.”

‘I found out months before meeting Jorgie we were unable to have biological children. We were devastated. We just couldn’t understand at the time. Until we met him.’
“Taylor was 10 months old when she was shaken and abused. They called again, but this time it was for a 2-month-old baby girl born addicted. Everyone thought we were crazy for considering another child with so many needs, but if not us, then who?”

‘You gotta believe me. I didn’t do it.’ Those are the words that were said to me, as I got into the car and saw my lifeless child in the backseat.’
“I had just come back from my break when Steven burst through the doors of the store and told me I had to come with him immediately. I raced out to the car, where I saw Logan, in his car seat, turning blue.”