Point of Rescue

Point of Rescue… remembrance… mourning: recovering from intimate partner abuse is an intensely personal work continuing the journey of Point Last Seen… a road to recovery after childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence. This second book chronicles Ricky’s life from the time she kidnapped her own son and took flight to a new life away from abuse and torture. Rarely do we hear the stories of women who have stepped back from the abyss and are safe after escaping an abusive husband. Rarely do we realise the tortuous road they are faced with: long-term health outcomes, mental illness and post traumatic stress disorder.

Point of Rescue… remembrance… mourning: recovering from intimate partner abuse is an intensely personal work continuing the journey of Point Last Seen… a road to recovery after childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence. This second book chronicles Ricky’s life from the time she kidnapped her own son and took flight to a new life away from abuse and torture. Rarely do we hear the stories of women who have stepped back from the abyss and are safe after escaping an abusive husband. Rarely do we realise the tortuous road they are faced with: long-term health outcomes, mental illness and post traumatic stress disorder. Leaving the abusive situation is just the beginning for Ricky as she assumes a new identity for fear of being found and killed, or her son abducted back to New Zealand. Within weeks of arriving in Australia Ricky receives the crushing news that her son Jonty had suffered brain damage as a result of his birth history and being shaken at six months of age; this condemned him to on-going health problems including intellectual disability, epilepsy, autism and reactive schizophrenia. Ricky has her own battle life with mental illness as she struggles to build her new life, process the aftermath of trauma, and hold down a fulltime job. Ricky finds a therapist who sets her thinking about a road to recovery, and takes up the challenge. This therapeutic journey covers years of complicated counselling. Using her own experience with Intimate Partner Abuse Ricky empowers herself by presenting workshops to health professionals. 100 workshops later and she is still going! A staunch advocate for the RSPCA Pets in Crisis Program, Ricky now talks with school students about healthy relationships and dating abuse and link between pet abuse and domestic violence.

I want other women to know that they can find the courage to step out of denial, choosing feeling instead of a life of numbness by facing the truth of their abuse and confronting the demons in their heads. We can skill ourselves in techniques of self empowerment and lead calmer and more mindful lives by facing our deepest fears and tackling them head on. We can move past our emotional scars and start to feel again. It is not a fight for the fainthearted. It takes enormous courage and stamina and assistance from a much higher source than us. I believe that true courage becomes a searchlight inside of us for the rest of our lives. Each woman's path is different and each one has a valuable message. My way of achieving empowerment may not be yours and it isn't the only way. Not everyone could do what I chose to do. Other women fight their personal battles in their own unique way. If I can touch one person's heart and move one person to fight their feelings of worthlessness and powerlessness, my job has been done. But you can't fight it alone. I had a support team of loving friends, a fantastic doctor and a skilled therapist to help me with my expedition. I also received assistance from my Heavenly Father, my True North. On your journey, I wish you success, I wish you courage but most of all I wish you peace.