My name is Kay. I live in Ireland and I’m 17. If this article is an inspiration to even 1 person, even if it only helps 1 person, then it has all been worth it. This is my survival story.
When I was 7 years old, my mother let me take the school bus for the 1st time. I felt so old! I was the youngest on the bus and the bus driver, Paddy, took a shine to me. I was his pet and he was like an old Grandpa because he gave me sweets and told jokes.
A year past, the bus route changed and I was the last stop on Paddy’s route. It was then that he started taking advantage of me. He used to stop the bus a mile from my stop on a back road and touch me. I didn’t understand it and I was too ashamed to say anything to my mom.
My mind blocked a lot of the events from those memories but when I was 13 I started to get flashbacks. It really upset me and I went to a therapist who helped me to remember. She told me that I should tell my mother. Eventually I did tell my mother but I told her not to tell my Dad as it was too embarrassing. She felt so bad that she hadn’t known at the time and for weeks after I told her, she would come into my room in the middle of the night asking questions to try to understand everything. I thought by then it was over and I could just forget about it but my mother wanted to find the bastard and press charges; I stopped her.
The memory of it has affected my social skills, the relationships I’ve had with boyfriends and it had a major affect on my self-esteem. My family moved to a new country 2 years ago and I made some really good friends. I got my social life back and now I’m battling my low self-esteem issues. I’ve won a few times! I have a boyfriend who is so good to me, no pressure at all and I love him. I just wanted to let people know that you can overcome bad things in your past.