My Story – Hannah

I was a brand new 18 year old. I moved in with a boy that was everything I thought I could’ve ever wanted. At first everything was perfect. I had moved an hour away from my family and I was working 2 jobs. Suddenly i was getting home to late and he was accusing me of cheating. He would start screaming in my face and throwing things in my direction. He made me quit my jobs. He started telling me how horrible my family was to me and that I shouldn’t be talking to them. I wasn’t allowed to go see friends that I’d known for years. All of a sudden I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without him. 4 months after being together I got pregnant. He wanted a kid so bad. However we were in no position to have a child. The anger and gaslighting kept getting worse. We were couch surfing my entire pregnancy. My anxiety and depression has reached an all time high. The doctor had prescribed me anxiety medication. He was furious and told me I needed to deal with it. I started taking the medicine and before it even had time to work, he didn’t like the way I was acting on it so he flushed it. The verbal abuse and mental abuse was terrible. I got another job while I was 8 months pregnant and he told me I wasn’t allowed to go anymore. I had my son in March and that’s when the physical abuse really started. I was taking care of everything. Nothing was enough for him so he started smacking me in my face and kicking me. He started taking my phone and threatening to take my child from me so I could never see him again. On July 11th 2022 i forgot to lock the bedroom door after making my son a bottle. He started beating everything out of me. He threatened to bury me in the back yard with our dogs. He punched me in the side of my face so hard my ear was ringing. I tried to run. I tried to take my son and leave. He pushed me onto the bed and tried to suffocate me. I finally got free, took my son, and ran. I called my parents and told them the I was not in a healthy relationship and I needed to come home. I went home on July 12th after spending the night at a friend’s house. I got granted a 5 year cpo for my son and I. He went to jail for 90 days. I started from scratch. Got my GED and a full time job. I now have an apartment and my son and I are thriving. It all happened within a year and a half. It was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever lived through. I am so thankful that I have started my life over again. The fear never goes away. But you do learn that you are worth more than being destroyed to absolutely nothing. We do survive. We do make it. There is a way out.