FOOTIE wife Becky Vardy today tells how years of abuse when she was a teenager made her feel dirty and ashamed.
She even tried to take her own life on two occasions after being preyed upon by a family friend.
Becky, married to Leicester City and England ace Jamie, said: “I was abused for three years as a teenager.
“It was horrible, I became a scared, mixed up kid who struggled to cope living in my own skin.
“I didn’t want to live any more, it was as simple as that. I felt as though I’d done something wrong.
“It changed the course of my life because I made devastating decisions, I never felt worthy of proper happiness.
“It has taken a lot of counselling to live a normal life and to realise I was a blameless, innocent child.
“I am speaking out now because I am in the public eye. People have started asking about my life and I am now strong enough to tell my story and in a position to try and help other victims.”
“At 13 everything changed. I will never, ever forget it.
“A friend of the family started abusing me.”
Fighting back tears she said: “I remember the first time. Our family were sitting with him and some more people in the living room on our sofa.
“We were looking at brochures together because we were planning a summer holiday with our family and mum’s friends.
“It was a happy, exciting day. He was sitting next to me. But when I put the brochure in front of my face to read it he grabbed my boob.
“It was so quick, so slight, nobody saw. I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.
“From that day on I wasn’t the same child because I never felt safe. Every time I saw him I would freeze and he would do more and more.
“He would grab my boob as I passed him. I remember him pulling me towards him when nobody was watching and trying to put his hand up my top.
“He’d be aroused sometimes and I’d feel him behind me heavy breathing. He’d squeeze me wherever he could, it was sick.
“I would freeze every single time, terrified. I didn’t know what to do. I would just cry in my room later. I bottled it all up.
“I felt like I couldn’t get away. It happened nearly every week, probably three times a month.
“If I tried to push him away he’d hit me. He wasn’t daft, he’d make sure mum wasn’t around.
“Once he pushed me into a bramble bush in the garden when I refused to do what he said. I was terrified.”