Episode 5
Dare To Tell
This story shatters the myth that time heals all wounds. Sexually abused as a boy by a family acquaintance, he carried the trauma in silence for decades only to be retraumatized by his own family when he finally spoke up at 46. Instead of support, he faced denial, blame, and demands to “just move on,” as if his stolen childhood were a minor inconvenience.
Haunted by nightmares, plagued by guilt, and crippled by fear that he’d become like his abuser, he withdrew from his own children, sacrificing closeness in a misguided attempt to protect them. Now in his 50s, he’s found his voice—but not peace. His family still refuses to acknowledge the truth, preferring a polished facade over his pain. Told through the compassionate voice of comedian Adam Hills and anchored by a searing metaphor of “amputated innocence” this episode exposes how intra-familial abuse doesn’t end with the act itself; it festers in silence, distorts love, and isolates survivors even from those who should shield them. And yet, amid the loneliness and PTSD, he persists not as a victim, not yet as a “survivor” in the tidy sense, but as a man daring to say: This happened.
It wasn’t my fault. And I’m still here.
L-R: Narrator: Adam Hills, Story teller: H
Adam Hills - COMEDIAN | RADIO & TELEVISION PRESENTER
Adam Hills is an Australian comedian and radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show Spicks and Specks from 2005 until 2011 and the talk show Adam Hills Tonight from 2011 until 2013. In Britain, he hosts the talk show The Last Leg. He has been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award and Gold Logie Award.