The life of Connie Culp was marked with a big tragedy and a number of struggles which she managed to overcome one step at a time.

When she was 16, she run away from home with her high-school sweetheart who would later try to claim her life. Although she was in love with her husband, Tom, she became aware that he mistreated her, the same as her father. For a long time, she believed it was normal, but she them decided to stand for herself.

“He would push me and people would see it, and I would get up and I’d say, ‘I’m a good person, and I don’t deserve that,’” she told Oprah. “He wasn’t used to me talking back.”

On September 21, 2004, this woman’s life changed forever when her husband accused her of flirting with another man and shot her in the face. He then pulled the trigger on himself but survived.

Connie survived as well, and she somehow managed to call her sister, who then called Connie’s daughter Alicia.