Woman shot at point-blank range by estranged husband posts shocking then and now pictures as part of 10-year challenge and says ‘nothing is impossible’
Rachel Wilson, from Newport, South Wales, wrote: 'Just because you’ve had a rubbish start doesn’t mean you cannot have a fantastic finish'
TEN years ago hairdresser Rachel Wilson, 45, was a victim of a “domestic terrorist” who would fling things at her and banned her from cutting the hair of men or gay women in case they hit on her.
Eventually it culminated in the “terrorist” – her estranged husband Darren – storming into her salon and shooting her at point-blank range.
Rachel, from Newport, South Wales, suffered horrific injuries as Darren fled the scene of the massacre, yelling: “I love you” as he ran.
He was found hanged in woodland six weeks later.
But the worst was yet to come – Rachel’s son, Jack, 16, subsequently took his own life.
Now, 10 years on from being in the midst of the abuse and eight years on from being shot, Rachel has released two pictures as part of the 10 Year Challenge sweeping the internet.
But her first photograph is not a smiling selfie.
Instead, Rachel lies in a hospital bed bloodied and battered after being blasted in the knee by a sawn-off shotgun. However, in the most recent picture she beams.
“Not quite the but eight,” she wrote. “Just because you’ve had a rubbish start doesn’t mean you cannot have a fantastic finish."
She continued: “Being in an abusive relationship for 18 years and finally getting out, not without consequences.
“My abuser tried to murder me (2011) with a sawn-off shot gun. Thankfully surviving, but tragically my son committed suicide shortly after.
“Fast forward eight years. Life is great and freedom still feels unreal. Making decisions, wearing what I want to, going out with the girls, having a girls’ weekend away."
Not quite the #10yearchallenge but eight. Just because you’ve had a rubbish start doesn’t mean you cannot have a fantastic finish.
Rachel Wilson
She added: “Life is precious and freedom is priceless.”
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous Digital, Rachel said: “I met Darren was I was 21, he was quite a charmer.
“But he quickly started to reveal himself as a different person.
“I couldn't cut a man's hair or a gay or lesbian's hair because he wouldn’t allow it."
She said: “I lost contact with friends because of his behaviour.
“It was too much of a drama to have people in my life.”
She said living with him was like living with a “domestic terrorist”.
“Ten years ago I was living on eggshells every day,” she said. “He was a domestic terrorist – that is how I would describe him.
“You never knew what was going to be flung next. A sock, an apple…
“I would look at people I knew who seemed so free and wish I had that.”
In June 2011 the couple broke up but Darren didn’t accept it.
That August he burst into Carol Ann’s hairdressers in the Malpas suburb of Newport and opened fire on his wife.
Rachel was rushed to hospital where she underwent surgery on her shattered knee.
Eventually discharged, days later Jack hanged himself.
His body was found close to where his dad had killed himself and where his ashes were scattered. An inquest in 2013 was told he had struggled to come to terms with what had happened between his parents.
For Rachel, the death of her son is heartbreaking – but the death of her estranged husband was something to be celebrated.
So while she is battered in the picture from nearly a decade ago, she is happy.
“I can't explain it, it was a like a huge boulder had been lifted off me,” she told The Sun. “I recall saying, ‘the wicked witch is dead’.
“I’ve been through so much but I have come out the other side.
“I can now go out, see friends, have fun.
“I am not taking part in any pity party. That’s over.
“I am alive, I have my freedom. I have been married for three years to Mike, who is 50. I am happy.”
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