"They call me The Robot"

Sarah's pacemaker has earned her a cruel nickname. Read her tragic and inspiring story...

They searched all my bags and then frisked me. When they touched my scars I yelled. It hurt like hell.

I told them about my operation and they said that it was probably my pacemaker that set the alarms off. They let me go and I went into another shop, came out of it, the same happened again, the alarms went off.

I got so embarrassed I just shouted "I have a pacemaker!" They let me go but I was mortified, I thought I would never be able to go anywhere without setting off alarms.

My scars got infected

I went back to hospital a few days later and they found something wrong: my wounds were infected.

So I stayed in the hospital for 9 days going through 12 drips worth of medicine (That hurt so much that I had to have gas to make it stop).

That was last week, the doctors have tried everything, but the scars are still infected and they still hurt a lot.

I've been told I might have to have another operation to clean the wound out because if the infection got into my pacemaker it could be fatal. Then I'd have to stay in the hospital until the wound healed, which could take MONTHS.

I try to look on the bright side!...

“You have to count your blessings”

It's all a bit of a mess. But one good thing has happened. I've been given a card to show in shops when I set off the alarm, it proves that I have a pacemaker and that I'm not a criminal.

My scars might be sore and I might still get called "Robot" but at least I won't get sent to prison for a crime I haven't committed. You have to look on the bright side! I take each day as it comes and am just glad I'm alive and that I've got such a loving family.

I'm at home now, just waiting for the results of the latest tests. I really really hope I'm not going back to hospital...

On Ice: A real-life film

"Raped by my brother"

Joanne loved having an older brother - until he started forcing her to have sex with him...

“He followed me in and locked the door”

I was only ten when my mum and dad broke up. It left me feeling all messed up inside. It was really hard on my mum, especially when he started dating my aunty. After that the whole of our family fell to pieces and my mum struggled to cope. Money was tight and we ended up in bad debt - everything was such a mess.

But my mum's a real fighter and she managed to find a job and get back on her feet after a while. At work she met Tim, he was a really nice guy and helped us a lot. They fell in love and it was so nice to see mum happy again.

Happy New Family?

I was traumatised and petrified

When I was 10 we moved in with Tim and his 15-year-old son, Gavin. I loved having an older brother. Me and Gavin got on great we spent hours together climbing, skating, or grubbing around looking for frogs and toads.

One afternoon when I was 13 Gavin came running over and told me he'd found an injured bird in the garden that we should help. We both dashed over to where he said it was, but there was nothing there. I was confused, but before I could ask him why he lied he pushed me into the shed. He followed me in and locked the door.

How it Started

“I remember screaming, but no one heard”

At first I just thought he was playing around, but he grabbed me and started ripping my clothes off, kissing and touching me. It was horrible, I remember screaming, but no one heard. I tried really hard to stop him, but when I fought back he slapped and pushed me. Afterwards he threatened me and told me not to tell anyone. I was so scared and confused that I did what he said.

I tried not to be alone with Gavin after that, but sometimes mum and Tim would go out and then it would happen again. Sometimes he didn't do anything, but usually he did. I became more and more traumatised and petrified each time.

“I was full of anger and became violent”

After a couple of months, my behaviour changed. I was full of anger and became violent and had to go to counselling. In the end mum sat me down tried to get me to explain why I was acting that way... I'd had enough, I blurted everything out - even though Gavin was right there.

My mum was horrified and so was Tim. Gavin told them I was making it all up, so it was confusing for them. Especially Tim - who would want to believe their son was a rapist?

But the Ordeal Didn't End...

It was really creepy

I thought it would all be over now and I could go back to being a normal teenaged girl again, but Gavin hadn't finished with me yet. He came into my room and started talking to me softly and stroking my hair, it was really creepy.

He told me he was going to prison. He said, "This is going to be the last time you see me? Are you happy?" And then he raped me again. I didn't scream, I was so used to it. It seemed almost normal and routine.

Happiness at Last

When mum and Tim realised that both me and Gavin weren't around they rushed to find me. Tim burst into my room and saw what was going on. Gavin couldn't deny it now.

“I thought it would all be over... But Gavin hadn't finished with me”

Finally, after two years of abusing me, Gavin got what he deserved and was sentenced to three years in jail.

Tim doesn't speak to Gavin now because of what he did and the lies he told, and I don't think he ever will again. Since Gavin left I don't feel like being violent anymore and we all get on well together as a family.

I'm so glad I told mum about what Gavin was doing to me - no one should ever keep something like that to themselves. I'm happy now and I feel like I've got a good future ahead of me. I try to look forward, not back.

"I was attacked"

A night out ended in violence for Cathy...

I don't think I've ever been as scared as I was the night me and my friend Lauren got mugged.

“I have to admit we were a bit tipsy...”

It was a Saturday night, and it started completely normally. We'd been to my sister's flat and we were just walking home to Lauren's house, only about 10 minutes away.

I have to admit we were tipsy. We got on and off a couple of buses as we had day riders and you can go anywhere on them. We bumped into a couple of mates and pissed about on the bus. We had a laugh.

Then me and my mate got off the bus and we found an abandoned trolley, so I said to my mate to get in it and I'd push her around.

We were laughing so much we hardly noticed where we were. Then I looked up and we were by this dark car park.

There was no-one around and it was really dark

I should have known then that it was dodgy, but it was on the way to my mate's dad's house, about two minutes away, and I was supposed to be staying round there anyway. My mate and me were screaming and laughing so hard we never saw the first boy come up to us.

He asked for the trolley straight up. We said "No, but we'll give you a ride if you like." There was something a bit weird about him, but I thought there was no harm in it.

We'd started to sober up by then and I just wanted to go home. We pushed him in the trolley for a bit, then these two girls came over.

They were riding BMX's and drinking cider. One of them was giving me the evilest look ever. A chill ran up my spine.

She asked the boy, "Who are these slags?" Lauren thought she looked like someone we knew and she was like "Hi, do we know you?" but she wasn't trying it on.

The girl replied, "Oh shut up." She then asked us to hold out our hands in front of her.

I tried to leave but it all went wrong

I knew that this was gonna turn into an argument or fight so I said to Lauren I needed the toilet. "Let's go," I said.

“She grabbed Lauren by the hair”

We were about to walk off when the girl grabbed my mate's hair and then asked me what I was gonna do now that she had my mate.

I went to walk off again thinking she would let her go.

I was about two feet in front of her when she grabbed my hair and pulled me back. I could hear my hair rip as she grabbed it. She then pulled me and my mate's heads to about this girl's knees so we couldn't do anything.

In my head I thought this really wasn't happening to us. I was really scared. Our area is quite rough, but nothing like this had ever happened to me before.

I was terrified.

The main girl told us to give her our rings. I just wanted her to let go of my hair so I did straight away. But Lauren really didn't want to.

“She punched Lauren really hard”

"If you don't give me that ring I'm going to smash your friend's face on that wall," she told Lauren. "Just give it her!" I begged. I couldn't believe that was my voice saying that, I'm normally a really strong person.

So Lauren handed her the ring. The girl let us stand up. Lauren was crying by now and I reached for her hand. But right then the boy came over and ripped my big gold earrings right out of my ears. It killed. And they had cost me £50, I'd saved up for them for ages and now he had just taken them.

The girl then hit Lauren in the stomach, she cried out in pain and I looked over to see my mate lying on the floor clutching her tummy.

We were left shocked, bleeding and in tears

The girl just looked at her with this really horrible look, and then she turned and she and the boy went off.

I pulled Lauren to her feet. She was covered in dirt and my ears were bleeding, we must have looked a right state.

We hugged and then both ran into a nearby bowling alley and called the police.

I was hysterical and so was my mate. I was punching everything and wanted to just die. I hated myself for not fighting back.

The police came and so did an ambulance because we were both shaking and crying and I think we were in shock.

“We were in shock”

We had to go to hospital to get checked over and it was only then that I started to take in what had actually happened. Even now I can hardly believe it. She could have had a knife or anything.

I was angry at myself for not fighting back, but that would have made me just as bad as her so I'm glad I didn't.

When you're actually in that situation you don't know what you'd do.

"They were done by the courts...

All three of our attackers ended up paying for what they did to us. Although I sometimes think no punishment could be as bad as how I felt that night.

“The girl got sent down for a year and a half”

The girl was caught and sent down for a year and half, but is only doing half of that. So she'll be out in the beginning of December.

The boy got 12 months community service and the other girl got nothing as she didn't actually do anything.

I'm ok now, but I still get a bit freaked out going out late at night. When I think back to me and Lauren messing about on the buses it seems like a lifetime ago.

Living with Abuse

16 year old Jenni was abused by her step-dad. This is her heart-breaking story...

Luckily a friend's big sister noticed the cuts on my arm one day at school. She took me off to give me a good talking to, telling me that cutting myself was just stupid.

“ What John was doing was evil, and unfair... ”

As I was talking to her I broke down and told her everything. She was really shocked, but she handled it really well.

She told me that I had to tell my mum about John because what he was doing was evil and unfair.

I was terrified. I didn't think mum would want to hear. But I went home, waited until I was sure John wasn't in, and I told her everything.

"I told her everything..."

She started to cry, and held me really tightly. I think she was in shock or something.

Then she went mental. John came home and she started shouting at him and throwing things. I hid upstairs.

He was shouting back at her and then I heard a crack and a scream, John had hit my mum.

“ I heard a crack and a scream, John had hit my mum... ”

She came running upstairs and yelled at me and my brothers to pack. She had a cut over her eye and she was white as a ghost. We took what we could and then we legged it.

We had to stay in a hostel for a while. Mum made me tell the police all about what John had did. To be honest I don't know what's going to happen about it cos we never talk about him now unless we have to.

All I would say to girls out there is that if a man touches you and it makes you feel uncomfortable you should tell someone. It's not your fault what is happening so don't be scared and speak out.

"I think I'm a drug addict"

Amy, 16, thinks she might be addicted to drugs.

I first tried drugs about 6 months ago, and now I can't stop.

The first time it happened I was at this bar that me and my friends normally go to. This lad had a bottle of poppers and offered me some.

Even though poppers are pretty tame, they gave me a real buzz, which I liked.

A few weeks later I went back to the same bar with my best friend and ended up hanging around with the same lads.

They were a good laugh and to be honest I was hoping that they might offer us poppers again.

They had something different in mind

But there was something different on the menu. They were taking pills.

“At first nothing happened”

I'd never tried pills before, but they said it was a special offer, "The first pill's always free," this lad told me. "You'll enjoy it, I promise," he said. "It's like the poppers but a bit stronger."

So I said yes and took two. They were tiny and white, they looked so harmless.

At first nothing happened, then the night completely changed.

I felt totally weird. My body was shivering, and I felt like I had vertigo. I couldn't stop dancing and laughing. Which was quite frightening, 'cos I literally couldn't control myself at all.

The night went on forever

The lad that gave me the drugs started kissing and touching me. It felt amazing, really intense and weird.

But I got scared because I knew it was just the pills talking so I backed off and went to find my friend.

I started to feel really sick, and I just wanted to get out of there.

I was getting really paranoid and at one point I wanted to beat up one of my close friends because I thought she kept looking at me funny (she wasn't looking at me at all.)

I made it home and was really sick. I promised I'd never ever do it again, but I did.

“Never again... until the next time”

After the first time I started to forget about all the bad stuff that happened, and just remembered how good the rush felt.

I remembered how perfect my body felt and how it was like I was going to dance all night without getting tired.

I couldn't wait to do it all again.

That's the problem. You see the thing about me is that, even though I know people who sometimes take drugs, I do it way worse than anyone else.

I've lost control...

I always want more. I always want to take drugs. If someone offers me a pill I never turn it down. If we go out, I can't have a good time if I'm not pilling.

I don't take drugs on purpose. It started as just a thrill. Now I can't shake it off.

I don't hang out with the same group of girls anymore, because they're not as into the pills so they can't keep up with me.

They are worried about me, and have told me to stop, but now I'm in this new group and there's always plenty of pills to go round. It feels normal.

“Drugs feel normal now...”

I've got used to staying up all night, but I can hardly keep awake at school.

I don't really care though, because if I ever feel low about it, I know I can just go out. It's only now I've just typed that, that I can see how far things have gone.

I want to stop...

I do. I want to stop because my uncle was a drug addict. He killed himself as he owed so many drug dealers money. He left his two children fatherless.

I hope that I can change as I do not want to die, get ill or lose out on any of my mates because I'm too drugged up.

I would strongly recommend anyone who is wanting or getting pressurised into taking drugs to say no. You don't know how you will react against them and you can lose the people that care for you.

"Dad had sex with my best friend"

Maxine knew her dad and best friend were close, but she never suspected what was really going on between them...

Clare was always hanging out at my house. She didn't get on with her own parents, but got on really well with mine - so much so, she came round even when I wasn't in. She and Dad had always been especially close. They were both big football fans and supporters of our local team. Being more of a girly girl, I used to go shopping with my Mum while they went off matches together.

I never suspected a thing

“They stayed overnight in hotels”

If the team won they'd go out afterwards to celebrate, and usually stayed out late. And when they went to away games they sometimes stayed over in hotels. When I look back at it all now I can't see how I missed what was going on. I was just too innocent I suppose.

Mum and Dad had been having problems for a while. I often walked in on them rowing. Mum thought he had another woman - he'd been unfaithful before after all. But neither of us suspected it was my 14-year-old best friend.

I sneaked my boyf home for a pash

I was out one day, with my boyfriend, Danny, and, as Mum was away and Dad was out at work, we decided to go back to mine. When we got there I thought it was a bit strange that the front door was unlocked, but everything seemed normal in the house, so I shrugged it off and decided I must've forgotten to lock it earlier.

Up in my room, things were hotting up between Danny and me, until I heard the floorboards creaking in my parents' room...

I found them in the bedroom together

As we crept across the landing, I was terrified there was a burglar - but what I saw shocked me even more...

“I saw condoms on the floor!”

Clare, my so called best mate, was standing half dressed while my Dad was running around the room trying to disguise what they'd been up. He was wasting his time - the evidence was strewn everywhere. There were candles all over the place, and tissues and condoms on the floor.

I was so stunned I stupidly asked what they were doing. I simply couldn't believe what was right before my eyes!

Clare started crying and my Dad walked over and tried to put his arms around me. I didn't want him near me though, and I shouted at him to leave me alone. Danny tried to calm me down but I was hysterical and ran from the house in tears.

Mum didn't believe me

I couldn't go home, or even think straight, so I rang Mum on her mobile and told her what had happened.

I was devastated when she didn't believe me. But I realised after that her reaction was not so different to mine. When I spoke to her later she realised I was telling the truth.

How could they do it?

“People think Dad's a pervert now”

Dad knew we would never forgive him this time, and so he moved out soon afterwards.

As for Clare, I've never spoken to her since. I couldn't believe she would jeopardise our friendship and ruin Mum and Dad's marriage - people think he's a pervert now.

Danny was always there for me

One good thing did come of this though, and that is that me and Danny have become really close. He's been amazing and was there for me throughout the whole heart-breaking mess. We're so in love and I know I can trust him not to betray me. We're moving in together after I leave school this year and I can't wait.