Megs McLean - Fighting for a normal life

Megs McLean is a warrior, she has built a life for herself in-spite of the gut-wrenching circumstances that brought me to make this GoFundMe for her family. The funds are paying for Megs to attend a treatment program that caters for people struggling with PTSD and complex trauma, any funds left over, Megs would like to go on landscaping the backyard for her kids or plastic surgery to remove her scars.

Megs has spent the majority of her life as a paramedic and teacher, and anyone who knows Megs, knows that what drives and motivates her is helping people, which is why her story affected me so deeply. 

Megs has a loving, supportive husband and three of the most beautiful kids, but those who know Megs, know that often times she lives on a knife edge, haunted by a brutal sexual assault from 14 years ago.

=Trigger Warning : Sexual Assault=
Megs moved to New Zealand to study Paramedicine in the early 2000s, living in a re-purposed hospital that was being utilized as student housing.
During her stay at the hostel late one night, one of her roommates 'Akeel Hassan' begged her for help, knowing she was studying medicine, he claimed one of her friends was having difficulty breathing.
Making her way past Akeel to help, he grabbed Megs, pulled her into his room and locked the door.
Megs began to scream for help and Akeel began to slash at her with a knife over and over, lacerating her arms, face, throat, legs and stomach, leaving deep wounds. He then grabbed Megs by the back of the head and slammed her face into a door-frame, dazing her before throwing her onto his bed and stifling her screams with his pillow.

Megs screamed into that pillow as she suffocated for a full minute before going limp, she remembers being repeatedly raped and then sexually brutalized with a knife, leaving her with internal injuries. 
Eventually managing to talk her way out of the room, she has been pleading for help ever since.
=End Trigger Warning=

The New Zealand government paid for Megs to move back to Australia then promptly refused to acknowledge what she had gone through. It's important to know that Akeel had a history of sexual assaults against young woman, serving 9 years prior for a similar assault in NZ, he had recently been released on parole, had an outstanding warrant and had even been picked up by police but let go the same day. 

On every level, the New Zealand government has failed Megs, adding insult to injury the NZ government paid for Akeel to obtain training and certificates whilst in jail to improve his job prospects, provided him with healthcare, counselling and support, all free of charge and when he is released in October he is being flown home free of charge to his awaiting fiance.

Megs sustained lifelong injuries that night and despite the countless surgeries, she still has complications that will require her to use a catheter for the rest of her life. The physical scars she bares are a constant reminder of the trauma she endured and often triggers her PTSD.
To date, her treatment has focused on her physical health only and having never received compensation, Megs has never had the means to treat her PTSD or complex trauma.

New Zealand has refused Megs any compensation for her surgeries, counselling, medication and travel, telling her she doesn't qualify as a victim of crime as she refuses to live in the same country as her attacker.

The current cost to Megs and her family as a result of the attack is around $250,000, having already sold their family home to pay for doctors and surgeries, the kids no longer have a backyard to play in and their Mum struggles with her mental health every day.

The money we are raising will go towards a mental health retreat in Byron Bay, specializing in helping people with complex trauma and PTSD.
We hope that given this opportunity, Megs will have the chance to learn life changing skills and coping mechanisms to work through her past trauma,manage her PTSD and give her a shot at a normal life. More than anything, Megs just desperately wants to heal and finally put the last 14 years behind her.

If there are any excess funds, Megs hopes to renovate her backyard for her kids or get plastic surgery to remove scar tissue.

https://www.paroleboard.govt.nz/decisions/2019/akeel_hassan_abbas_al_baiiaty_-_29042019.html