I Love Life: Child Abuse Survivor Speaks Out!

Elizabeth Kubler Ross once wrote,  “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat and have known suffering.”

Dave Pelzer, who has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and a number of other national media programs, is one of those people.  Dave shared his story on KXRB's "I Love Life."

As a child, Dave endured the horrors of abuse, which included physical torture, mental cruelty and near starvation.  In Dave’s own words, “My mother would starve me at least ten days at a time. I had no food whatsoever.  On top of the starvation, I was the family slave.

As the years passed, the abuse worsened.  “When I was eight years old, I took matters in my own hand.    I was able to mentally control my thoughts with a form of passive resistance.  But, I never fought back.”

At age 12, Dave’s teachers risked their careers to notify the authorities about the abuse.  Upon Dave’s removal, he was made a ward of the court and placed in foster care until he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 18.

Dave, without question, is a real survivor.   “Here’s a kid without coordination who flew on the refueling team for highly secretive missions which played a major role in Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield and Desert Storm."