Domestic violence survivor tells her story

By Nick Watson

Celebrating the more than $1 million in transitional housing fundraising for domestic violence survivors, Abigail Cutchshaw pondered her “full-circle moment.”

She was proud to share the victory with her mother, far away from her “seven-year nightmare from hell” in an abusive relationship.

“I don’t know how I made it out alive sometimes, but we did,” Cutchshaw said.

Cutchshaw was 17 and about to go away to Young Harris College, when she met a man four years older. The man’s jealousy and controlling nature were red flags early on.

“I was really young, so I thought that’s kind of what love was supposed to feel like, to have someone care about you so much they always wanted to know where you were and who you were with,” she said.

She dropped out of college and was married at 19, with two little girls entering the world with her.

“I just ended up in a really horrible situation where I was trapped and I couldn’t leave,” Cutchshaw said. “He made threats that if I left him, he would kill me.”

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