DOC TURNS PAIN INTO TRIUMPH - Raped at 15, mother fulfils dream as medical doctor

Dr Ivanah Thomas celebrated her 55th birthday yesterday and she was all smiles. The Jamaica-born, US-based woman has every reason to be happy, having overcome a tumultuous past, which involved losing her virginity upon being raped, and then becoming pregnant.

She turned that pain into triumph as she has now fulfilled her dream of becoming a medical doctor, plus the holder of three other PhDs, an MBA, and a nursing degree.

A mother of three, Thomas shares an extremely tight bond with her first child, Keron Williams, who is the product of her vicious assault. She decided to share her captivating story with THE STAR, in the hope of inspiring battered and abused women worldwide.

Born in Manchester, she grew up in May Pen with her beloved father who transitioned in shocking circumstances when she was only 15. She got the message while she was heading to her educational institution, Glenmuir High School.

"I rushed back home and found my father dead on the floor. I was very close with my dad and I remember just laying down beside him and telling him to wake up. I had never seen a dead person before and it was extremely traumatic," Thomas recalled.

"I remember clear as crystal that on the day of the funeral when they were lowering the casket, I tried to jump in the hole because I just wanted to die with my father and be with him. It took years for me to get over his death," she said.

About two months later, while preparing to relocate and live with relatives in Manchester, she visited a friend to bid her farewell. The unthinkable happened as her innocence was ripped away.

"My friend wasn't home and one of her family members was outside in the night. He had one hand over my mouth and a knife at my throat and he said 'do not scream'. I remember I was wearing a long dress that went down to my ankles that my grandmother had sent me. It was a gorgeous dress and that dress, he ripped it off and that is where the assault happened. I remember it like yesterday, that piercing, knife-like feeling. It was horrible," Thomas described.

Thomas said she went back home and did not report the matter to the police. However, after relocating, and now attending Manchester High School, she told a family member.

"I started school but a few weeks in I got sleepy and was vomiting. I was taken to the doctor and I found out that I was pregnant. I really didn't understand anything about pregnancy. I had never kissed a boy or anything, I was innocent," she admitted.

"When the doctor suggested that I do an abortion and not ruin my life, my mother, who was living overseas, said she could not give consent to do so because it goes against everything that she believed in," she recounted of her Christian mother.

Still horrified, Thomas said she did several things to prevent having the child.

"I lived in the country and people would say that when you are pregnant you should not walk fast or run or you could lose the baby. I would run everywhere, I would drop on purpose, but my belly just kept growing and growing," she said. "At the time I didn't feel any connection to my unborn child.

"But my son is precious and means the world to me now."

At age 16, three months after the birth of Keron, they migrated to the US, and in 1985, she completed a General Educational Development test. A year later she got accepted at La Guardia Community College, in pursuit of a nursing degree.

She sought a father figure and got married at age 18 to a man 21 years her senior. The union produced two children. That union later ended. But Keron, at age 12 expressed deep interest in knowing his father.

"I knew he didn't have a father figure because my husband did not like him. I don't know where I got the courage, but I made the decision to take him to Jamaica and we went to May Pen and enquired where I could find the perpetrator. We asked questions and was able to find his parents. We were told that he had migrated and lived in Canada and I told them Keron was his son, but I never explained the circumstance," she said.

Thomas said after much counselling and prayer sessions, she got the courage to call her rapist.

"I had never seen him since the incident and I had never spoken to him. My son was standing beside me and it was like this ball was stuck in my throat and the memory of everything kept flooding back. It was awful. He apologised for what happened. I handed the phone to my son and my son was so happy, he was smiling and it did something to my heart," she said.

Williams, she said, was desirous to meet him and after much thought, was sent to Canada for two weeks.

"He only saw him twice but they would keep in touch," she said. Thomas knew the time would come when she had to share the true story with her son.

"He had just turned 18. We went out for dinner and that night at the restaurant I told him exactly what happened. And he was blown away. He was completely dumbfounded. He was really emotional and he told me he was sorry I had to experience that and I told him how much I really, really, loved him," Thomas shared.

"A few weeks later he told me he made a decision to cut ties with his dad. I asked him if he was sure and he told me that he wasn't the type of man he wanted to represent him as his father. My perpetrator died in 2015 and he never went to the funeral," she said.

Thomas' biggest supporter is Williams. The 38-year-old father of two described his mother as a phenomenal human being.

A former football player, Williams currently works in the information technology field. He told THE STAR that he was horrified when his mother told him about the manner in which he was conceived.

"She told me after the second time that I had visited him. I had picked up on some characteristics that I didn't like about him. He was not really a man of his word and so on. She told me all that had happened and she was strong because she kept it together while telling me. When she told me I felt like the roof of my head was coming off. I was just shocked and mortified and I couldn't put my composure together just hearing it," he said.

"She had to endure a lot after the fact from being scrutinised and was labelled as being promiscuous. Nobody wanted to hear her story. My mother has been through a lot and I depend on her a lot more than how she depends on me. I can't remember one situation where she didn't come through for me," he added.

In between self-healing and raising her children, Thomas said in addition to a nursing degree, she worked hard to earn PhDs in clinical psychology, philosophy, theology and last year graduated as a medical doctor from Caribbean School of Medical Sciences in Jamaica.

"I now have four doctorate degrees behind my name, a MBA and my nursing degree. I am looking forward to starting my internship at May Pen Hospital at the end of March," she said.

"We have been through so much as women and I think we need to love and support each other more," Thomas emphasised. "The power of forgiveness is so important. I chose to forgive my perpetrator because I know that if I did not he would still hold my key. I can talk and don't cry anymore. I have let go."