Justice for Domestic Abuse Resolved in permanent brain damage

I am raising funds to travel to the US to undergo the new reverse stroke Treatment that's now available and has been so far a great success. With this Treatment I am hoping to get, I'll be hoping to be able to water skii again, dance and run again. This means everything to me, this is my goal! Also, I would like to afford a fantastic Lawyer to re open up this case to seek justice!

NEWS REPORT ON CHANNEL WIN AND BELOW WRITTEN BY SUEANNE McCUMSTIE REPORTER FROM CHANNEL WIN IN NOVEMBER 26TH 2015.

HANNAH'S STORY

Hannah was 16 years old.

She was living with her boyfriend - five years her senior, and had just dropped out of school to find full-time work.

She was healthy.

Until one night, when she found herself crippled with what she thought was an horrific case of gastro.

I couldn't talk, every slight movement, I just keep vomiting, and vomiting, and had a migraine, so they just put me down as, I think it was suspected food poisoning, yeah that's right, she said.

The next day, Hannah was unresponsive.

C-T scans revealed she had suffered a bleed in the back of her brain and she was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital, where she underwent a cerebral angiogram.

When she awoke, something was horribly wrong.

I couldn't sit up, so they thought I was just groggy from the anaesthetic and stuff, and then they hit the emergency button, and everyone came surrounding, and next... I don't remember much after that.

Hannah had suffered a stroke while undergoing the procedure.

I woke up not the same, I had no use of my left side whatsoever, Hannah said.

It took eight months of rehabilitation in the children's hospital before Hannah could consider returning home.

But it was her response to the medical team in that time which would reveal one of her best kept secrets.

They noticed that I wasn't talking much, like, I was frightened every time a nurse would come in or a doctor so they sent a social worker and asked if I would like to talk to her.

Years of domestic abuse by her then, partner came rushing to the surface.

The night that they bought me in, that I was bought in to the hospital with, supposedly, severe food poisoning, it wasn't that, it was an abusive relationship, and he had several times, hit me in the head.... Among other things...

Hannah wasn't afraid anymore - someone was listening to her.

She told the social worker how her partner had been raping her, at knifepoint, throughout their relationship.

She thought the abuse had come to the point where he had finally paralysed her.

He hit my head that hard, that's what caused the bleed, she said.

But, there was nothing to back Hannah's accusations.

There was no bruising on my head, and by the time I reported it, well my mum reported it on my behalf, there was no physical evidence to provide... And the fact that he denied everything.

I was too scared to say anything at the start, and when I started to get my speech back, Mum fought to get it in the court on my behalf, and by the time she eventually got to court, there was no signs of abuse.

He walked away free because I had nothing... All I got out of it was a restraining order, Hannah said.

November will mark 11 years since the stroke, and Hannah is now living independently.

She has a four year old son, a new life.

From being completely paralysed down my left side, I've gone from a wheelchair, to a walking frame, to a walking stick, but now I'm managing to walk on my own.

....With daily rehabilitation she undertakes of her own accord.

I always have to try and push my left (arm) first, otherwise it doesn't come, she says, as she sits on her gym equipment.

fitted with no weights - the most restriction her arm can handle.

Theres always lingering effects of the stroke - a reminder.

When I get too tired, my left side starts to limp and I notice it because, my foot scrapes along the ground and sometimes I trip, but I say in my head, lift your leg, lift your leg....

And the memories come flooding back more and more.

The latest statistics show, while reporting is increasing, one woman is killed almost weekly in Australia due to family violence.

I'm just hoping that my story inspires other people to talk before it's too late, otherwise you could end up regretting it for the rest of your life, like I did.

Tell your best friend... At least someone knows....

I should have spoken earlier... I regret not telling any friends or anything because if it had have been spoken earlier, I wouldn't have had to live the rest of my life the way I am now.

NEWS REPORT ON CHANNEL WIN AND ABOVE WRITTEN BY SUEANNE McCUMSTIE REPORTER FROM CHANNEL WIN IN NOVEMBER 26TH 2015.

https://youtu.be/awOpFOfOLkU