Ava Thomas knew she had hit rock bottom after being helped to a women’s refuge with her children. Coming to terms with a relationship dominated by domestic violence, Ava knew leaving was the right decision.

Beaten and manipulated, Ava had been trapped in an abusive relationship with someone who was meant to love her. Listening to the stories of other women in the shelter, Ava began thinking back to where it all started to go wrong. Brought up by a mother who resented her, she ran away to her father and a home she thought might finally be safe. But after being abused by her own brother, she was thrown out onto the streets. Ava started searching for the love she had been missing her whole life, but what she found was another abusive relationship.

Lifted by the strength of the other women in the refuge, she never looked back and has a new life - with her loving children by her side.