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Tonight's special guest is Michelle Frey from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, a survivor of abuse, who also handles child abuse in her professional role as a Forensic Nurse Examiner and RN at York Hospital. She shares, “I have witnessed or have been the recipient of abuse for a large portion of my life. Physical and sexual abuse runs rampant on my father’s side of the family. Incest has affected many of my family members including my father, aunts, and many cousins. My father was an alcoholic and drug addict. My parents had a very toxic relationship where my mom was addicted to my dad and my dad was addicted to everything else. I was sexually abused by my second father’s best friend for 2 years of my life.” Michelle continues, "The harsh realities of child abuse really does feel like an everyday battle that a large percent of the population chooses to ignore. I’m grateful for groups like [NAASCA] where people can come together and feel supported and not under constant attack." About her work, she shares, “As a forensic nurse I could get called to testify in child abuse cases so I have to make sure I don’t do anything where I can be perceived as biased to a defense attorney. I was also a little nervous because I never spoke to a large number of people about my person abuse history. However, I’ve been coming out more and more. I was triggered severely by seeing a person distort child abuse information to suite a personal/ political agenda, as a nurse I feel as though I’m in the middle of this coronavirus war. After I was able to bring myself back emotionally, I feel that maybe it would be beneficial to speak to my experiences in order to help spread awareness and objective information.”