In episode 255 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Gary Quinn.
Gary Quinn is a professional painter and decorator by trade and the business owner of ‘Quality Brushstrokes’.
Gary was sexually abused by his stepfather from the ages of 10-12 years old. Then, when he was 17, his mother entered another relationship with a man who domestically abused her and one night, he murdered her whilst Gary and his siblings were in the house. The man who murdered her then took his own life the day after.
We then fast forward a few years and Gary has entered a relationship and his partner becomes pregnant. The child is born in 2005 and Gary and his then-partner end the relationship.
Fast forward four years later and the daughter he believes is his and has put his time, love and investment into turns out to not be his, and the father is his best friend at the time. Both his then-friend and ex-partner knew the child was not Gary’s when she was born.
Heartbroken, Gary had to not only deal with that trauma but also navigate how to distance himself from the child he had previously thought was his daughter, not just to protect her but to protect himself as well.
In this episode we discuss: all of that trauma and the mental health difficulties they gave him, how he has recovered and not let those experiences define him, the support and love his current partner has given him, qualifying as a professional counsellor and the pride in his work as a painter and decorator, which he has done for the past nine years.
As always, #itsokaytovent
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