Payton was twenty years old, a college student in Hattiesburg, when a relationship that started casually turned dangerous. He was charismatic and magnetic, the center of every room, and slowly, systematically, he isolated her from her friends and family and convinced her she was nothing without him, long before he ever raised a hand. In this episode, Payton tells the full story: the red flags she talked herself out of seeing, the night the abuse turned physical, the split-second decision that got her to a hospital, and the prosecution that followed. She's candid about going back more than once, about the friends who finally pulled her out for good, and about what it took to rebuild trust in herself and in love. Today Payton is a chiropractor, a wife, and a mother, and she's sharing her story so someone else might recognize the pattern sooner than she did.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence: National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, thehotline.org. Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence statewide hotline, 1-800-898-3234, mcadv.org. Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, serving the Pine Belt and Hattiesburg area, 24-hour crisis line, 1-800-649-1092, dafs.ms.
Peyton ClintonGuestElizabeth PorterHost
