After Escape
Culturally, we love stories of escape. They're high stakes. There's drama. They often have happy resolutions. But we don't often consider the other side of getting out... and that can be the really tough part. This week, Piya asks: What happens after you escape?
Here are the stories from this week's episode...
'You have to learn to walk in your mind': What happens after you escape a truly terrible childhood
Until the age of 18, Maude Julien was imprisoned and subjected to tests and drills by her father who wanted to turn her into a superhuman. She escaped her physical confines, but it took more than a decade to be free from the prison that had been constructed in her mind.
Canadians claiming to have 'electromagnetic hypersensitivity' feel forced to escape modern life
People who believe they have electromagnetic hypersensitivity [EHS] report debilitating headaches, pain, ear ringing and heart palpitations in the presence of electromagnetic fields, but some experts say there's no scientific proof for their illness. Piya visits a man in rural Ontario who claims to have EHS to find out how he left the city and outfit his home to find peace.
Life after a gang: Saskatoon woman wants 'to know what it feels like to love myself'
Saskatoon's Jorgina Sunn traces the drug and gang involvement of her early adulthood back to childhood trauma and abuse. She tells Piya how she escaped a life of crime and pain and what she's doing today to atone for the wrong she's done, and forgive those who've wronged her.
The aftermath of escaping a shark attack
In 2011, Nicole Moore survived a vicious shark attack while on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. A shark bit a 30-centimetre chunk out of Moore's left thigh and bit her left arm, which was eventually amputated. Despite the trauma, Nicole says she isn't afraid of the ocean or of sharks. In fact, she's since become an "amateur expert" on sharks and a shark conservationist.
How R.E.M.'s biggest hit inspired one man to escape from his life as cult member
For 19 years, Perry Bulwer was a member of a religious cult called The Children of God. He moved around world from commune to commune. He had no money of his own. His access to newspapers, TV or radio was completely controlled. Perry talks about how he got out, and why he's still haunted by the experience.
Surviving cancer can be just as hard as having it
Geoff Eaton has had cancer twice. But for him, surviving treatment didn't mean escaping the effects of the illness. Geoff explains how many people continue to struggle with long-term physical effects of their care, the financial hit of being out of the workforce, social isolation, and the emotional toll of having a near death experience.
This episode originally aired on January 14, 2018.