In March 2015 I was raped by a person I had known for 4 months, he was a colleague of mine when my boyfriend and I went to America. I considered him a friend, told him all my secrets and he told me his. We got close over time and at his farewell party he forcefully sexually assaulted me. When he was finished, he told me not to tell people that he raped me because nobody would believe me; and that is what I did. I kept quiet for a while and somehow the story came out around work. I was victimised and went through a great amount of victim blaming.

That night when I got home I fell into major shock. I spent an hour in the shower and even contemplated suicide. My boyfriend was working late so I was alone.

I almost ended my life, but I managed to make it through the night and sleep through the night.

When I woke up the next morning, I had found that something so small could save my life. My boyfriend had left Blue Roses next to my bed. Without knowing it, my boyfriend had helped me survive.

I pushed myself to keep going until we came back to SA. I eventually told my boyfriend after a week of him asking me if I was okay – and I only told my friends and family after hitting an all-time low a year later.

By sharing my story, I had realised that it had been a great part of my healing process and overcoming PTSD for good.

I have started a campaign that will be launching in January 2017 called The Blue Rose Project. With this campaign, I will be helping survivors overcome PTDS and prevent suicide by sending them gifts including beautiful blue roses to prove to them that life is beautiful and worth living. I am hoping this will help the healing process in many survivors and give them a chance to also speak out about the effects of PTSD.

Our Facebook Page is: www.facebook.com/thebluerosesa, please contact me if you would like to get involved or if you simply would like to share your story. (Being Anon is an option)

Let us overcome PTSD 1 rose at a time.