“My stepfather was a very abusive person. He used to put bruises on my mom's face, and I still have a scar on my forehead from when I got thrown into a bed rail. When I was nine, we had gotten into an altercation with him, and I told my mom, ‘One day you will never have to worry about a man hitting you again.’ A lot of people thought that I was training for athletics back then, but I was becoming stronger to protect her.”