MegReilly

I’ve gone back and forth about posting this because I don’t really talk about this part of my life anymore.

But seeing everything about the Cornell case has brought up feelings I haven’t felt in a long time.

I was r***d almost 11 years ago.

And even typing that still feels strange.

You’d think after 11 years it would just become something that happened a long time ago. But it doesn’t really work like that.

There are things you carry with you. Things that change the way you trust, the way you see people and the way you see yourself.

And it isn’t just the assault. It’s everything that comes after. Wondering whether people will believe you. Questioning whether you did something to cause it. Replaying things in your head and wondering what you could have done differently.

Feeling ashamed of something that was never your fault.

That’s why the Cornell story has affected me so much.

Because I know what it feels like to have something happen to you that you never asked for, never consented to and never deserved.

A woman being drunk does not mean she consented.
A woman taking drugs does not mean she consented.
A woman going somewhere with someone does not mean she consented.
A woman knowing someone does not mean she consented.
And not being able to fight, scream or remember every second does not make what happened any less real.

I wish I had understood that when I was younger.

I wish I had known that what happened to me wasn’t my fault.

I was r***d.

It happened to me.

And it wasn’t my fault.

I don’t know every detail of the Cornell case, but I do know there is a woman at the centre of it who deserves to be heard, supported and treated with dignity.

And to every woman who has ever sat alone wondering whether what happened to her “counts”

It does.

You don’t have to minimise it because someone else had it worse. You don’t have to explain every detail perfectly. And you don’t have to carry someone else’s shame.

I carried mine for long enough.

After not seeing you pregnant with Luna because I was 24 hours away, I feel honoured to see this pregnancy 🫶🏼 lovely day for our Lily - May 🩷🩵

Scroll for a memory of me in a wheelchair

This baby girl is 29 years old.

I think a lot of people they follow me on here have no idea what this tiny human went through, a lot of you do so I won't bore with details.

I'll just say one thing, it blows my mind every year that I'm here. It blows my mind every day that I've got through what I have been through. It blows my mind that I genuinely didn't think I'd ever turn 18.

I'm TWENTY FU***NG NINE. I hate admitting how old I am, I constantly see myself as younger. But f**k. Little Meg genuinely didn't think she'd see 20 never mind 29. I'm so proud of her.

Life's been tough, it's thrown curveballs left right and centre, I don't think I ever got to be a "normal teenager" but I'm on the other side of the world now. I miss my family so much, I miss Paddy so much; but I'm thriving.

Grateful for everyday I've had since I didn't think I'd be here. Grateful for everything I've seen. Grateful for whatever the f**k this is, because it's life.

First work trip, Esperance you were a dream 🫶🏼🫪❤️