Other Inspirational People Who Survive through The Most Harrowing Abuse

Other Inspirational People Who Survive through The Most Harrowing Abuse. It is quite amazing how one person's life can have such an impact on your own life even when you have never met that person.

I have read and re-read the story of the 'A Child called It' written by Dave Pelzer, I found it to be a very moving story about a child who was so brutally abused by his mother.

It brought tears to my eyes on occasion at the sheer ease with which she seemed to hurt this child and it made me realise that the experiences I went through were nothing compared to his, I felt he was an inspiration to us all, a real survivor.

As I read the details of his life and all the dreadful traumas I was reminded that when I am feeling sorry for myself there are always others far worse off.

One of the things I will always remember reading was how he described the beatings, he barely had any part of his body which wasn't covered in bruises, he was starved and had to forage through the bins, providing his mother didn't catch him and punish him for being disobedient. He had to search for enough food just to stay alive. Once he was made to eat the contents of his baby brothers nappy, this made me feel sick to the stomach and my heart went out to him.

His brothers were told not to speak to him and to report to their mother if they knew of anything he had done which she had forbidden, which was almost everything. He was made to clean the house, prepare meals for them all and then not allowed to eat anything but then clean the kitchen until it was spotless. If he was lucky there might be some scraps of food which he could eat while his mother wasn't looking.

One brother in particular seemed to take delight in telling tales and getting the boy into trouble. He loved his father but the man was frightened of his wife and did nothing to save his son from the awful daily abuse which took place. He eventually left the family and this meant the boy was totally on his own.

He ran away several times but his mother always seemed to convince the authorities she was a good person and the boy was making up things because he was such a liar. Eventually he was taken into care but again suffered from the bullies in the homes until he found a delightful couple who treated him well and showed him the love and affection he deserved.

I read three of his books, 'A Child Called It', 'The Lost Boy' and 'A Man Named Dave', I am not a big reader but I was riveted by his story and each time I finished one I couldn't wait to read the next to see what happened to him. It was such a joy when he was rescued and to see that he turned into a very nice, successful writer. He has gone on to write other books but the three I read were just about his life struggles and how he survived everything which was thrown at him.

You just have to admire people like Dave but wonder how such awful things can happen to any child without anyone noticing for such a long time. Unfortunately this isn't as rare as we might hope and many children are abused, the statistics are quite frightening.