My father threw me down the stairs – then made me homeless

Growing up in a dysfunctional household was tough (Picture: Getty Images)

One morning at the end of summer 2009, my parents were arguing about a phone bill – and things quickly escalated.

I was in the living room and could hear their raised voices coming from upstairs. Soon, I sensed that my father was about to become physically abusive towards my mother – and I ran upstairs to interfere.

He was very predictable; someone who thrived off chaos. Violence was always his response to the problems he deliberately caused.

I was my mother’s protector; a key thing that my father hated about me. Like all abusers, he had a control complex. My method of attempting to defuse s...