“At this point, I was devastated. Some believe being overweight can cause it. I was told that if I did not lose weight, I would go blind. I had no will to do anything anymore. It seemed that just when I made it through one obstacle to being healthy, I was facing another.”
‘I became severely ill. He said, ‘You just want to be sick.’ I could not keep anything down. The people who were there to help me were saying I WANTED this to be happening.’
‘I was told, ‘We didn’t want your head to pop off.’ There was a serious problem.’: Woman diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome after 10 years because ‘it can be very difficult to be taken seriously as a teenage girl’
“I felt my skull slide into my throat. I immediately started gagging and pushed my chair on its hind legs. It can be very difficult to be a teenage girl and be taken seriously. This wasn’t the first or last time I’d be doubted about my symptoms. Being doubted really plays with your head. I was never a dramatic attention seeking individual.”
‘Yeah I know who she is and I can’t stand her.’ I felt embarrassed. The tears started running down my face. I felt my chest close up. Everything in my body was pulling me out of there.’: Woman says some days are ‘crap’
“I tried to say to Luca that we calmly needed to go, ‘But you said we would go on the swings,’ was his response to me. I couldn’t even make it to the swings where I couldn’t stop crying. We were there for 10 minutes.”
‘My sister pushed me to have an abortion, but I couldn’t do it. Not even 90 days clean, I found out I was pregnant.’: Woman overcomes addictions to have beautiful baby
“We ended up talking. I opened up about my grief and he shared that his father had passed away. We had been very good friends for years and helped each other through battling the same demons… And then I got the call, he had been robbed and shot in a parking lot. My world crumbled. Why him? Why now?”
‘Not following his rules would unleash what I began to call, Satan. I loved him in a very dark and twisted way.’: Woman overcomes years of abuse
“After the first incident, he had parental locks put on my phone, like I was a child, his property. I blamed myself for what happened. He convinced me if I hadn’t had been talking to my mother that night, nothing would have happened to me. I believed him.”
‘Why can’t adults be more like kids. He didn’t see black or white, he saw only a law enforcement officer and who he called a hero.’
“Today this beautiful young child approached me and thanked me. I know some people hate police, but it’s days like today that reminds me of those who love, honor and respect the badge and uniform.”
‘She will live in total darkness. You are getting in over your head,’ we heard.’: Family happily adopt blind, deaf child despite discrimination
“We woke to a text. These people helping us couldn’t understand how we could move forward with adoption until we were certain SHE WOULD LIVE. I responded verbatim, ‘WE WANT THIS GIRL NO MATTER WHAT.’ Her piercing blue eyes were mesmerizing.”
‘Our son climbed up to the top bunk bed and wrapped the blind cords around his neck. He then began to walk down the ladder, as the cords tightened.’: Mom’s PSA about cord blinds after nearly fatal accident
“He panicked and tried to yell for mom and dad, but nothing came out. We heard a loud thud. It will forever be ringing in my ears.”
‘It seems your water has broken, baby has no fluid left.’ I looked at my husband, full of tears. I squeezed his hand and took a deep breath. I didn’t notice I was holding it in the entire time.’
“My husband was by my side in a heartbeat, and said, ‘let’s fight and give this baby a chance!’ I knew in my heart I needed to fight for this little life inside me. It was alive, it was thriving and it’s heart was beating. I couldn’t decide it’s fate.”
‘Don’t you remember me?’ He looked at me like I was crazy. ‘No I’m sorry, I don’t.’: Woman encounters police officer who ‘saved her life’ years later
“He said to me, ‘I’m sorry I had to arrest you, I was just doing my job.’ I told him, ‘It’s okay, I understand now that you may have saved my life that day.”