I was woken up at 2:00 am by a man and a lady, handcuffed and put into the back of a car in the middle of the night. I screamed so loud I have no idea how no one in the neighborhood heard me and called the cops. I was driven to the Tampa, Fl airport which was about an hour to and hour and a half from my home in Kissimmee, Fl and I fought the whole way. I screamed, cried and kicked the whole time thinking I was just being KIDNAPPED! I kicked the driver in the head while driving down the highway which is how desperate I was to not care if we crashed and I died, because I wanted a chance to escape. Once at the airport I waited for the opportunity to make a run for it the only issue was the handcuffs. I waited until the female transporter went for coffee and I told the male transporter that I had to pee so I could get into the bathroom and ask for a cellphone to use. I asked a lady in the bathroom to barrow her phone to make a call and she left me, I tried to contact my boyfriend at the time but way unable to reach him at 3:00am, so my next option was to hide in the bathroom and call the cops. The police were there in seconds but for me what seemed like minutes. They pulled me to the side and spoke with me while they spoke with the transporters who provided paperwork showing my parents had signed over their rights to them and they were NOT kidnapping me but rather transporting me to my new school for troubled kids. I died inside at that moment knowing this was all set up by my parents and they were sending me away to “fix” me. Once I arrived in Jamaica after being on a plane for hours in handcuffs I was taken to the school which was like 2 hours from the airport in the middle of no where with huge walls and then reality set in I wasn’t going home. I was only there for a few months but the things I went through and also witnessed stay with me until this day, I have been physically restrained, pushed down a flight of stairs for “walking to slow” in the rain, denied medical attention for my bruised back and ribs after the push, been starved for food, denied the basic right to privacy to pee, poop, shower alone, stripped searched naked by a adult as a child, denied medication for my migraine conditions, and also not allowed to ever speak with my parents one day ever while I was there. I remember a lot of what took place and also there is some more foggy memories I guess my mind wishes to forget. I remember laying in bed at night sleeping but not fully sleeping because I wanted to make sure no male staff Molested me in my sleep, I heard girl screaming at night time because they were being molested. I watched the staff members give kids medications they shouldn’t have take but were forced to because they wanted to keep them calm so they wouldn’t start issues with the students vs staff. The amount of trauma I endured in my few months at Tb before I phased out at 18 was horrible and I can only imagine those of you who stayed longer. I pray that you all find healing in whatever way that is for yourselves because we deserve it.
