Little Rock’s Angelique Francis survived abuse. Now she advocates for others

(Content warning: This story addresses suicide and other mental health issues and may be difficult to read and emotionally upsetting.
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.)

If Angelique Francis got out of bed, it was an accomplishment. Drinking a glass of water counted as another accomplishment. Step by step, inch by inch, Francis would figure out how to get through each day. These memories are eight years old now, but they still sear.

“It was not an easy process to be able to talk about my story,” says Francis, a senior forward for the Little Rock women’s basketball team. “But the feeling of being in a hole and having to crawl out of it, never expecting the light to shine ever again — I was dragging my feet just trying to wake up. I would pray and be like, please do not let me wake up tomorrow. … There’s no other way that I can explain how scary it was, having to fight but not wanting to.”

She found her purpose as she started to share what happened to her, the horrors of an abusive childhood and the suicidal thoughts that marred her middle and high school years. She now helps those who need help, in whatever way is necessary and for however…