Fighting for My Life

In 2006 Joseph was convicted of a violent assault on his wife. His subsequent detention meant there was a very real possibility that he might never be reunited with her and might not see his children again. Full of remorse, Joseph accepted his punishment, worked through the counselling and anger management courses he was required to complete, and fought to see his family again. During this period he took a good hard look at his life: at his violent upbringing dominated by a father whose fists were his first resort, at his hostile relationship with his mother (also a victim of violence), at the heartbreaking suicide of his younger brother, at his father's shocking murder, at his drug abuse and womanising. He was forced to see what other people saw: a frightening and violent man whose actions were unpredictable. It was then that he understood, for the first time, what his wife had to put up with and why she was sometimes reticent and withdrawn. Finally it was his love for her and his devotion to his children that pulled him through. Drug- and alcohol-free for over a year now, and determined to change his life, Joseph has now been accepted back into the heart of his family.