Patchwork Of Voices In Domestic Violence
Posted by Melissa Carter at 10/17/2008 9:31 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: domestic violence gay Bert Show Melissa domestic violence abuse Bert Show Q100 deaths lesbian dialysis
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: domestic violence gay Bert Show Melissa domestic violence abuse Bert Show Q100 deaths lesbian dialysis
I had forgotten her story. Until a cold night in Forsyth County, and there I was able to give her a voice that she no longer has.
I was on dialysis for nearly a year before I received my kidney transplant 6 years ago. When on dialysis you are assigned a specific time to come several times a week, and since it lasts for at least 3 hours at a time you get to know the faces of those there with you. Such was the case of one woman, whose name I no longer remember, but whose face I do. Shortly before my transplant, that face was bruised and swollen when she entered what would be one of my last sessions.
That was the first time she was given the chair next to mine, and almost immediately she explained to me that it was a door that had caused the signs of violence on her face. Not knowing what to say, I agreed how awkward that must have been for her.
During my hours beside her the nurses and technicians gathered around her chair, and I overheard them explain to her that if she didn't stop what she was doing she would die. I knew how hard I had to work just to maintain a somewhat normal lifestyle being so sick, and how difficult it would be to take on anything extra in staying alive...like being beaten.
When you have a transplant of any kind, you are forced to stay in a quarantine-like state immediately afterward while your immune system builds back up, so I was stuck in my apartment when I got a call from one of my nurses. She was checking in on me, and catching me up on the people I had come to know the past year at the hospital. And one update was that my chair-neighbor weeks before had indeed died. Apparently after that day she did not return to dialysis, and her body gave out. I made it to the "finish line" in getting out of my struggle with my transplant. She had not. So, I lit a candle for her after I got off the phone and said a little prayer to the woman I didn't know but who had somehow touched me very deeply.
Those who came to the Forsyth Domestic Violence Awareness Day last Friday heard her story, as well as those of other courageous women like Aurea McGarry, host of the tv show "Live Your Legacy," and Johnnetta McSwain, founder of Breaking the Cycle.
Their's should be heard, as well as the stories of the unfortunate countless others who suffer the same experience.
It was my honor to be there in Forsyth to share her voice, and to encourage others to constantly fight not to lose their's.
Thank you Melissa for coming out in the cold weather to share your touching story of domestic violence and how a patient you knew lost her life because of abuse. There was not a dry eye in the place when you were done speaking. You have given her a "legacy" of hope to others by telling about her life and her needless death. Her story will live on with you.
What an amazing and caring woman you are. I am so glad to have met you and thank you for including me in your blog today, I love giving women hope that there is life after domestic violence and even a Prince Charming too, if they want one. Because women do deserve to be treated like a queen. And of course kindness goes both ways.
You're the best, Sincerely,
Your New Friend, Aurea
http://www.liveyourlegacytv.com
Reply to this