Stan Walker Wrote A Powerful Open Letter About Overcoming Childhood Trauma

2017 was a big year for Stan Walker.

The singer battled stomach cancer and became an ambassador for Youthline’s Good2Great programme - created to help young kiwis build their self-confidence & leadership skills within a safe and anonymous environment.

To help raise awareness for Youth Week, Stan wrote a powerful open letter via Stuff, about overcoming his own childhood trauma.

 

A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker) on May 25, 2018 at 8:02pm PDT

"When I talk to young people, I tell them my story because I hope when they hear it and see what I've been through, they will start to believe that they too can be whatever they want be," he wrote.

"I went from stealing my lunch at school, just so I had something to eat besides meat loaf and bread, to being on the same stage as Beyonce."

 

A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker) on Feb 21, 2018 at 1:03pm PST

"I tell them about how I was brought up in a village on my marae in Tauranga," he continued.

"We didn't have anything, no money, nothing. My dad was a violent man towards us and towards my mum. He wasn't a father to me and my brothers and he wasn't a husband to my mum."

 

A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker) on Jan 31, 2018 at 9:22pm PST

"I tell them about how I don't have one memory of him hugging us or telling us he loved us. He was always in and out of jail and we were always seeing him taken away by the cops," he shared.

"We were brought up around a lot of drugs, alcohol and all kinds of abuse. I was told I was nothing and I was kicked out of home." 

"I was the worst statistic, I was everything that was going to fail," he added.

 

A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker) on Feb 6, 2018 at 8:20pm PST

"All through my teenage years I hated myself - I used to look in the mirror and hate everything about myself. For so many years I tried so hard to be someone else, that I lost who I was," he wrote.

"You would never want that for your kids, but I didn't get a choice in how I was brought up. I struggled with it throughout my teenage years,  but now I know that the things I hated about myself, the things that got me into trouble are now the things that make me stand out and now I get to live my dream. Those things have made me who I am today."

 

A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker) on Jan 21, 2018 at 12:06am PST

Read Stan's full letter here.

For crisis or suicide prevention support for yourself, a family member or a friend, please contact Lifeline (0800 543 354) or Youthline (0800 376 633).

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