Abused as a child, prayer warrior working to transform lives

Annette Grey says she was physically abused and mistreated as a child, and she had no option but to run away from home.

She said a relative used to "Beat me really bad".

"At one point my skin was filled with scars. She tied me up in ants nest as a form of punishment and told me not to move," Grey said.

Those days were like living in a horror movie, according to Grey. Although she was just seven years old and could not take care of herself, Grey decided to run away from home. While on that fateful journey she was picked up by police officers who turned her over to the agency responsible for child services. Not long after, Grey was in foster care. But again she ran away.

"I was young, but when people were saying that anyone in the foster-care system would not amount to anything good, it got to me as a child, and I decided to run away again," she said.

NOT WELCOMED

She decided to go back home but the welcoming arms that Grey expected were non-existent.

"I didn't have any choice but to go back to the foster home," she said.

Grey attended Kingston Senior Secondary, now Kingston High and then St Margaret's nursing school. From there, her calling to help others was excessively pushed. She said that her foster mother was one of her biggest motivators and she is really happy to have had her in her life.

"She always said to me that I should always help people. She said to me: 'If you see a one-eye or one-foot man, don't stare, just help them'," a tearful Grey said.

Now at the age of 49, she looks back at her life and is glad that she has made it this far. She believes that she has risen above all odds to prove that people can become something, no matter what they had to endure to reach to a comfortable place.

"I am a successful practical nurse because I have had many jobs and I have helped many people. I just want to be an example to my two sons," she said.

She told THE WEEKEND STAR that she made it through because she trusted in God and prayed to him all the way through her rough times.

"I got saved at age eight, know that it was early, but I am glad that I did because I am not sure where I would be today," she said.

She uses her experience to help others and to pray for others. Grey said that she has become a minister of God going around praying and counselling people through their problems because she knows what it is like to have one's back against the wall.