SARAH Millsted is a true survivor. She has battled through the toughest of times after being battered and bruised by an ex-partner.

Moved by her own experiences and a drive to help others facing domestic abuse, Sarah, 47, is now supporting other victims worldwide after her online support group went viral.

Sarah was stalked, hit and even held hostage by her ex-partner, who was jailed in April 2019 for stalking, robbing and assaulting three of his former girlfriends.

Now, Sarah says she feels brave enough to speak out and is helping others with her group, Domestic Abuse Survival Stories, as far as Australia and America. She and two other group members offer support, advice, motivation and information.

Speaking of her ordeal, she said: “We met online in 2015 and then met in person but I knew him under a fake name.

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“I quite fancied him and had on been on my own for about five years and then after a month he said he loved me which was quite soon and a bit of a shock.

Echo: Sarah after an attackSarah after an attack

“Then he told me he was on the run from police and I think it was burglary after he’d taken items from a former girlfriend’s house.”

She then suffered six weeks of harassment and says he used to call her from 14 different numbers to try and get hold of her.

He was sentenced after he was convicted of stalking, robbery, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, actual bodily harm, burglary and criminal damage.

The abuser, from Westcliff, has also been given lifetime restraining orders preventing contact with his three victims.

Sarah, now from Stock near Billericay, added: “He was originally jailed for six months for the harassment and within one month he was back at my door but this time it was revenge.

“He broke down the door with a hammer and I was in complete shock and he said he’d come to check if I had any men over.

“After that he was sending me 175 text messages every day and 52 calls from different numbers. I told police I didn’t know who I was any more and how it felt like I’d gone to heaven but my body was still on earth.”

She was moved to a women’s refuge in Harlow and posted on Facebook to let her loved ones know she was OK but her ex-partner tracked her down once again.

She was later moved to a new refuge in Colchester for five months. During the final incident before her ex-partner was jailed, he confronted her in a car and repeatedly hit her in June 2017.

Turning to the awareness group, Sarah said: “I thought about how I had nobody when I was going through this and how I didn’t feel brave enough to speak out until he was finally sentenced.

“We work to bring awareness and people message us asking for advice and support. We’ve saved three people’s lives and also share information on what to look out for.

“My page has reached more than 107,000 people with more than 5,000 followers and I also have a 600 private members group. I wanted to bring Awareness of Domestic Violence. I set the group up a year ago and I have made a difference to so many lives.”

See www.facebook.com/SarahMillsted for information.