TODAY'S LEADING LADIES MAGAZINE

Re-building Life..

Every 15 seconds, a woman is beaten by her husband or partner in the United States.* Yvette Cade never thought she'd be included in this statistic...then she married Roger Hargrave.

On "Who The (BLEEP) Did I Marry?" (Wed., 9 p.m. ET on ID), viewers were introduced to Yvette. She survived a harrowing ordeal at the hands of her abusive alcoholic husband, Roger.

After the couple had separated Roger still wouldn’t leave Yvette alone. Things took a brutal turn when Roger showed up at Yvette’s work, doused her in gasoline, and then set her on fire. Thankfully, Yvette survived, but the experience left her with deep physical and emotional scars.

"I just want people to look at me as normal," she said, "and for myself to feel as normal as possible."

When Yvette first met Hargrave, she says he always smiled and had a "great personality." As a single parent raising a young daughter, she says she also admired the care and concern he showed for his son from a previous relationship. Yvette soon married Hargrave, but their happiness began to fade after only a few months.

Carol Bryant, Yvette's aunt and the one who introduced the couple, says Hargrave started drinking a lot after the wedding and then began verbally abusing her niece. "You couldn't even call their home without having to listen to him in the background making vulgar remarks and screaming and hollering," Carol says.

Yvette's family feared that Hargrave's erratic behavior would turn violent. Within months, their fears became a frightening reality.

Roger is now serving a life sentence in jail, and Yvette lives with the after-effects of the attack. "It’s an everyday struggle for me to even get up, get out of bed, go in my kitchen to cook dinner because I’m near the fire."

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSISTANCE 
The National domestic Violence Hotline 
800.799.SAFE (7233) 
800.787.3224 (TTY)


July 16, 2012