Emily's Story

Hi, my name is Emily, and this is a part of my story.

When I was 12, I experienced sexual abuse from someone in my neighbourhood. I didn’t tell anyone about it for a long time. Not long after, my life changed in a big way when I moved away from everything familiar.

Around that same time, I experienced a lot of loss. One of my close friends died in a car accident, which was incredibly hard to process, especially while everything else in my life was changing. I struggled to talk about how I was feeling and began coping in ways that weren’t safe for me. There were times when things felt so overwhelming that I didn’t know how to keep going, and I needed support from a mental health service for a short time.

Faith became something important to me during this period, and while it brought some comfort, it didn’t take away the pain completely. I still found myself struggling and turning to unhealthy coping when things felt too heavy.

Not long after, I lost another close friend to suicide. That experience stayed with me in a way that’s hard to put into words, especially because I felt so close to it and so powerless in that moment.

More recently, I’ve experienced another sudden loss of someone I cared about deeply, and it’s brought a lot of grief back to the surface.

I’m still learning how to live with everything I’ve been through and how to cope in healthier ways. Some days are harder than others, but I’m still here, and I’m still trying.

I’m sharing this in the hope that someone else who has been through trauma, loss, or struggles with coping might feel a little less alone.