I bottled up my feelings inside because Mum was really gutted. She had to work more shifts to earn enough money. Her brother looked after us in the evenings. That's when it started. He said if I told Mum, she would probably crack up because she s been through so much already.
Adults are responsible for looking after and protecting children and young people.
Children are not responsible for protecting adults. Even though I tried not to think about what happened, I still had nightmares. I was too tired to bother with school and just wandered around on my own. I felt like an alien, the only one in the world like this, and I couldn't tell anyone. Everything built up inside.