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SPIKING HELL
I was spiked on night out with pals and woke up to find two men raping me – my world crumbled but I built it up again
SITTING on a bench in Newcastle city centre, clutching a takeaway coffee, Laura Currer smiled to herself.
It was a simple pleasure she feared she might never enjoy again.
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A few months earlier, she had suffered every woman’s worst nightmare when her drink was spiked and she blacked out.
She awoke, in a different location, to find two men sexually assaulting and raping her.
Laura, 28, said: “I didn’t remember anything from having the drink until the point I came to, about six hours later. It was horrendous.”
Incredibly, she managed to get herself away from the men, who she knew, and back to her parents’ house, where she was living at the time.
There, Laura began the painful process of recovery.
She said: “I started to realise the full impact of what had happened. To the vast majority of people, that’s unthinkable and it’s hard to comprehend someone could do something like that.
“It really shakes your view of humanity.”
Laura courageously told her parents and within 24 hours of the assault, she had reported it to the police.
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She was then signposted to her local Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), where she underwent forensic testing and was given emotional support that Laura views as being invaluable in moving forward from the assault.
She said: “I remember the woman at the SARC who helped me was so warm, kind and compassionate. She was there to hold my hand during the worst moments of my life.”
While Laura wasn’t physically injured during the assault in August 2015, the mental and emotional scars she endured have taken longer to heal than any bruise.
She said: “When you go through a trauma like that, it takes up a lot of your head space. It feels like it gets stuck, you can’t process it. You have no energy because it takes such a massive toll on you.
“I experienced PTSD symptoms, which is a really common response.”
'You feel like nothing will be normal again'
Despite Laura’s courage in reporting the assault, her attackers were never charged.
She is bravely speaking out now, during Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week, as part of a of SARCs, which provide free help and support to survivors of sexual assault 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Research shows two in five people don’t know where to go for help after being sexually assaulted.
More than half of sexual assault survivors (56 per cent) have not sought help.
Through her local SARC, Laura was referred to counselling.
She said: “I had just finished a Masters degree at Durham University and was about to start on the graduate scheme at the NHS when the assault happened.
“It was a really difficult time.
“For the rest of the world, everything looks normal but for you it feels like nothing is going to be normal again.”
She is grateful to her close network of friends, as well as the professional help she received, which meant she was still able to enjoy going out in her beloved Newcastle.
She said: “When it comes to trauma, you take the small victories when you think, ‘I never thought I would do this again,’ and those seemingly inconsequential moments build up.
“Eventually you realise you’re back to feeling yourself again.
“But it’s an ongoing process.”
Getting her 'sparkle' back
One of those small victories came a few months after the assault, when she was driving home from work and decided to stop and absorb the atmosphere in her home city.
Laura, a programme manager at the NHS, said: “I love Newcastle and I thought, ‘I’m going to park up and get a coffee, like I used to.
“I was walking down Grey Street, one of the central streets that goes down to the Tyne, and it was dark and busy and there would have been a time when that would have felt really unsafe.
“It was such a wonderful moment to think, ‘This is my life, this is my city and this is me doing things I love.’ After the assault, I didn’t know if I’d ever get to that place again.”
Two years after the attack, Laura launched Sparkle, an organisation to help others get their sparkle back after experiencing trauma, which has reached more than 30 million people globally.
She is now the chair of the National Sexual Abuse and Assault Services Lived Experience Group and key advocate for Sexual Assault Referral Centres to raise awareness of the support service that proved so integral in her own recovery.
She said: “If it’s something you’ve experienced, my sincere wish is you feel able to contact a SARC. They are available 24/7, no matter who you are or when the assault was.
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“It can get better, it does get better.”
Sexual assault referral centres provide a safe space and dedicated care for people who have been raped, sexually assaulted, or abused. To find out more, search “sexual assault referral centres” to find out more or visit to find your nearest service.
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