DALLAS — The month of October is Breast Cancer and Domestic Violence Awareness month. Angelia Dunbar experienced both, in fact, it’s hard to imagine one woman could go through so much trauma and still be standing.
Her first husband abused her multiple times, Dunbar says she ignored warning signs she needed to leave.
"I just kept it to myself and thought let me just toughen up and make it through this. I should have left then and a year later I was gone, and it was almost too late," says Angelia Dunbar.
Dunbar is talking about the night she was kidnapped, beaten, and left temporarily blind.
"I felt like I lost it all but when I tell people I lost it all but faith, my faith is what has kept me this whole time," says Dunbar.
Faith and family helped her recover, she remarried had another child and a solid career before life tested her again.
"I’ve gone through so much, but I take those broken pieces and I got out and I slay the day. I still become successful, I still strive to be successful, I still make a difference and women are finding out I went through that, but I went through it. I came out," says Dunbar.
Narrowly, diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer; Dunbar has been in remission for nearly seven years.
"When you get upset, you get down, frustrated, you get defeated like I do, I say, I quit today but I’ll be back tomorrow! Because I do quit some days, but I’ve given it my best shot and I don’t want to get to the point where I give up so, I just know tomorrow I’m coming back stronger, but I choose to live every single day," says Dunbar.
She helps other women take back their power with her organization, My Story Our Journey.
"I often tell people it’s all good when people follow the cliches and say pay it forward but, when I wrote my book and I look at my story and my journey, it’s reach back. Because the people in the back have not moved from that dark spot in life. Those are the ones that need hope," says Dunbar.
Solving problems starts with listening, Dunbar, and her team access the mindset of the women they help, connect victims with counselors and help them set realistic goals.
Her journey of support has many chapters, mirroring her own heroine story, that she believes is far from over.
Dunbar wrote a book about her experience called, “Slaying with My Broken Pieces” it’s for sale on Amazon. If you know someone who needs healing reach out to mystoryourjourney.com