HELP LORRAINE BUILD A FUTURE AFTER SURVIVING A VIOLENT PAST

My name is Kate and I am organising this fundraiser for a friend who is in great need of assistance following her escape from a life of abuse and violence at the hands of her husband. She is disabled, following a traumatic brain injury accident, caused by her husband, over ten years ago.

Her name is Lorraine Wilson, and she urgently needs support to help rebuild her life. Currently Lorraine has no access to any funds, she needs help:

Lorraine is a kind, gentle and loving woman, who is dedicated to her rescue dogs. Right now, she needs to recover physically and emotionally from what the police officer in charge of her case said was 'the worst case of domestic violence he had seen in seventeen years’.

Lorraine’s husband is now in prison, so the immediate threat to her life has passed, for now.

In Lorraine’s own words:

‘It’s very hard for me to talk about what’s happened and to ask for help but unfortunately it’s become a necessity.

I have suffered from severe long-term physical, emotional and financial abuse at the hands of my husband. He threatened to kill me if I sought help and to exact revenge on anyone who helped me. This is why I was so reluctant to confide in friends.

I suffer from cognitive impairment and mobility issues. The severity of my brain injury meant that for years I became dependent on him financially and practically. My trust in him and my incapacity enabled him to take complete control of my finances, leaving me extremely vulnerable.

My soon to be ex husband was recently arrested after an extremely violent attack. He was tried and convicted for multiple violent attacks on me and multiple threats to kill me.

Two women are killed by their current or former partners every week both in England and in France.

The court prosecutor at my husband’s trial said that it was her belief that I had only narrowly avoided becoming one of those statistics. Sadly domestic abuse will affect 1 in 4 women at some point in their lives.

The violence and abuse had been escalating and the final attack was by far the worst. Nobody responded to my screams for help but when my husband was briefly distracted I was able to send an SOS text to a friend, before hiding my phone again. This text was a prearranged signal that meant I was in extreme danger and needed the police immediately. My husband’s threats to kill me if I called the police no longer mattered as I believed myself in imminent danger of death anyway. My husband was arrested and I was taken to hospital.

My husband has locked me out of the only bank account I have in my name and he had also moved all money and savings into accounts in his name only.

Attempts to apply for government assistance have been extremely slow and I’ve only been able to pay bills, pay for essential care support and buy food for myself and my rescue dogs with the help of very kind friends.

I make my living as a writer. The impact of the physical and emotional abuse means that I’ve been unable to release a new book for two years. I cannot type due to injuries affecting my hands, my vision has been impaired because of multiple injuries to my eyes and even using speech to text is much harder than usual, due to having had three of my front teeth punched out - this affects the accuracy of the software when I speak.

I also have rescue dogs who have been my unconditional companions throughout this ordeal. They have kept me going through it all. I adore them and it would break both my heart and theirs if I were unable to provide for them and their veterinary care any longer.

I am determined to build a new life for myself. I will need your help to take the next steps and get myself on my feet. If you are able to make a donation, however small, or buy one of my books, it would help me enormously and will be most gratefully received.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Lorraine-Wilson/author/B00CWFWCG6

If you’re not in a position to offer any financial support, could you please share this fundraising link? You will be helping to give me the space and time to heal and to rebuild my life and career as an author again.

My books are feel-good reads, and whilst they sometimes tackle difficult issues I like to show my characters overcoming their situations and finding new hope. My next book, whenever I complete it, will be dedicated to everyone who has helped to be strong and realise that I do have a future. It starts here and now.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.