Support Rachael - childhood abduction survivor

My name is Rachael Watts, in 1990 I was the 7-year-old victim of Russell Bishop, who had just been acquitted of the Babes in the woods murders of two other little girls.

He snatched me off the street, threw me in the boot of his car, drove to Devils Dyke, where he sexually abused me, strangled me, leaving me for dead.

But I survived, gave evidence against him and he was jailed for life.

I gave up my right to anonymity in 2022 when he died and I finally felt I was safe enough from him.

But for the last 8 or so years I have been living with Complex PTSD, acute anxiety, agoraphobia and major depressive disorder.

I spend my days alone in my bedroom with the curtains closed whilst my husband works.

Although I have a garden I am unable to use it is too far away from my house and my agoraphobia and anxiety disorder has an effect called Gastric Urgency.

This GoFundMe appeal is to help turn my garden in to a therapy garden with a garden room as a place where I can feel at peace and safe but also with a toilet in case I have panic attack.

I have unfortunately gained a significant amount of weight due to compulsive eating since 2015 which has caused a lot of physical problems with my mobility so I have been unable to manage the garden myself. My husband works and also suffers from a bad bad back caused by being hit by a car as a teenager.

I have a keen interest in plants and my home is full of them. They are my only contact with the outside world and I love to watch them grow.

I also have a severe deficiency in vitamin D due to the lack of sun on my skin.

I am trying to rebuild myself and cleanse myself of the shame and embarrassment of what that horrible individual did to me but I often suffer with intrusive thoughts, my brain is never silent which causes me to become overwhelmed and forgetful which is another side affect of both the physical and mental trauma.

The effects of my attack have also left me closed off to people and friends.

It feels as though the action of this brutal individual is never ending and despite it being 35 years ago that hellish day still haunts me and continues to rule and ruin my life.

I hope beyond words that my new garden will pave the way to a new existence and will not only shine bright sun on what will hopefully be a beautiful garden and all that grows but also on myself.

Thanks to the generosity of people over the last two years, particularly those who contributed through GoFundMe who are the kindest and most generous people in the world, a start has been made but I would love to be able to finish my garden and try to rebuild my life.

Thank you.

Rachael's interview on BBC Woman's Hour:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dl3p8s

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/22976851.survivor-russell-bishop-speaks-32-years/?fbclid=IwAR28zjJ1-TbOhOYEOEBafpfNNzoLC-ZQzd1U7PsTO7sqyJ5hTVCQwgaD3Jc