After that grim story, here is the follow-up. When police finally freed a woman who had spent a quarter of a century trapped in domestic slavery, the first challenge was learning how to live normally again. The victim — held for decades by Amanda Wixon in a house in Tewkesbury — arrived in foster care frail, frightened and deeply traumatised. Her carer says the woman recoiled from basic human affection and woke at 3am just to take long, hot showers in a desperate attempt to feel clean. A body and mind shaped by abuse The anonymous foster carer recalls a woman who was painfully thin and emotionally withdrawn after years of captivity. “She was very skinny,” the carer said. “I had to take her to doctors, get appointments and try to feed her and show her love.” Even simple gestures were difficult. “She didn’t want me to hug her.” Within days, however, the woman began cautiously accepting affection — the first step in rebuilding a life after years of isolation. Life as a ‘proper slave’ As trust slowly developed, the woman began describing the reality of her captivity. She had been given scraps of food, forced to carry out endless housework and locked in a room with black bags over the windows to block out light. Her abuser beat her, poured bleach on her face and forced washing-up liquid down her throat. “She did all the housework — cleaning, ironing, everything,” the carer said. “She was a proper slave.” Fear that still hasn’t faded The trauma remains raw. The woman still calls Wixon “the witch” and lives in fear of encountering her. During the long wait for the case to reach Gloucester Crown Court, she once accidentally ran into her abuser in a supermarket. “She was hysterical,” the carer said. “Running around, absolutely terrified.” A system that looked the other way The carer believes authorities failed to intervene earlier despite warning signs. At one point the victim tried to reach out for help, but the concern was reportedly brushed aside. “Nobody did anything,” the carer said. “They just left her there to suffer.” She now wants a wider inquiry into how the abuse went undetected for so long. Rebuilding a life — step by step Recovery is slow but visible. The woman is attending college, learning skills she was once denied and travelling abroad for the first time. Her hair — repeatedly shaved during captivity — has grown long. She dreams of taking a cruise after already visiting the Mediterranean. “She’s enjoying life now,” the carer said. “I’m trying to show her the life she never had.” ‘She didn’t want me to hug her’: carer of enslaved woman describes her recovery
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