Taking Back My Power

BBC My Story, runner up for 'Overcoming adversity'. Infant Lena Oleary was a convict. Her 'rap sheet' was for being homeless. Imprisoned for 15 years, she suffered starvation, neglect, psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Her carers, the Irish Government and the Catholic Church, ran terrifying establishments that were part orphanage, part workhouse, part school and all hell. Comfort was never nearby. At 15 Lena was liberated. With no intellectual tools, the road ahead was to become one tribulation after another. By 17 her yearning to have her own family was her ambition in life. Her quest for love found her in a turbulent marriage and by 19 she suffered the greatest of tragedies a woman should not have to endure. Facing the next fraction of her life was to become years of toxic, septic and grievous existence. It was time to pull of the plasters that temporarily soothed the scars of a tormented individual, and begin to renovate her mutilated soul. Through homelessness and subsequent rescue by the Soho Centrepoint, a new slice of a prospective future was at large. Her spirit began to develop and soon education became her focus, and her saving grace. This is a tragic and dreadful tale, truthfully told in an unvarnished style. Yet, it is also a story of intrepidity, courage and determination, against all odds.