Transcript
(solemn music)
- [Laura Wright] The main reason why
I did not reach out for help,
I think I didn't think
anybody would do anything,
because they didn't do anything
right when it happened.
(solemn music)
I had received a gymnastics
scholarship to college,
and I
just quit one day,
because I had just gotten
tired of gymnastics
after doing it, like, my whole life.
So I joined the military.
It was athletic.
The rules were straightforward.
I liked the inspections.
I liked just everything about it.
I was at Fort Gordon,
Georgia, at this lake
we used to go to.
We would go out there, a lot
of the people in training.
Everybody was leaving and I
had like went to the bathroom
or something I came
back and there was like,
hardly nobody there.
So I get in the car with these three men,
but they don't go back to the base.
They go down this really weird road,
right to the lake where the water is,
and...
that's where the incident happened.
(suspenseful music)
I had to get back in the
car with these people
because I had no idea where I was at.
(static)
They stopped at a convenience store,
and I got out I went and told
the clerk to call the police.
And then they took off.
So...
When I finally got back to the base,
they took me to the hospital.
I knew my jaw was dislocated.
They did the whole kit thing.
And then they called the police.
(footsteps)
That next morning the
company commander was like,
oh we'll give you a four-day pass,
and you just be back here
ready to work on Tuesday.
This is what women back then
would receive for their trauma,
a four day pass, be ready to work.
(solemn music)
If you hadn't gotten into that car, Laura,
you'd be just fine.
I started getting into drugs and alcohol,
when I got out of the military.
I got married, and he was a great guy.
I didn't tell my husband what happened.
It affected our whole
intimate relationship,
because I would just flip out.
So it was like, why are
you acting like this?
And I'm like, "I don't know...
I don't know why."
You know, just lying.
We split up about five years later.
(gas stove burning)
I wanted to not have to remember
and not have to yell at my child
and not have to deal with anything.
(kettle whistling)
I did some methamphetamines,
but then that gets out of control.
(static)
By the time that happened,
I had lost everything.
I was homeless.
My son was with my parents.
By October, I was in prison.
Finally, I got into the
program, 30 day program.
I got one-on-one treatment with CPT.
Talking to my therapist,
for the first time
I felt like somebody's finally listening.
I felt like somebody cared, finally.
It was life changing
after I figured out how hurt
I was and how much I had
stuffed things and how much
I needed to just scream.
That release, right
there, was very powerful.
And it brought everything together.
I thought it was my fault all these years,
but I know now it's not my fault.
I lost like 50 pounds of madness.
It happened,
but it's okay.
All these years later, I did
meet a man and get married.
Married my best friend
and things are going well.
I think now I don't have anything
like eating away at my soul.
I just feel more confident.
I like myself now.
I see myself as kind of
crazy, very outspoken.
I love myself.
I love my life.