A sex abuse survivor who broke almost every bone in his body trying to commit suicide has spoken out about how he turned his life around to build a multi-million pound business. .
Michael Josephson MBE suffered horrific sexual, physical and mental abuse as a child and was so overcome by trauma that he tried to end his life on December 28, 1998.
Michael jumped off a bridge in Cheshire, breaking nearly every bone in his body – but miraculously, he survived. And while being treated for the catastrophic injuries he sustained in hospital, Michael decided he would not let those who harmed him beat him again. .
Michael, 42, said: ‘That was the turning point of my life. I thought – I want to be a success, I want to live, I want to help other young people. ‘Why should I let other people finish me off? ‘I gave in to the bullies by jumping off that bridge. You should never give in to bullies.’
Michael worked hard to build a multi-million-pound business in the following years and raised a staggering £3.4m for Childline and the NSPCC.
He was awarded the MBE by the Queen in 2016 for his services to charity and now he is planning his own charity ball to continue his fundraising drive. Michael described his childhood as ‘hell’ after the death of his mother when he was aged just 11.
He was abused as a vulnerable child in the care system. Despite his tumultuous upbringing – being passed from different care homes and suffering more bullying and abuse – he enrolled himself in college aged 16.
According to him: “As I lay there in hospital I knew I wanted to be a success – to make money and to give back money to those in need as well. I wanted to make my mum proud of me.
I’d broken pretty much every bone in my body and had many operations, but I came out a new man.’ He returned to the business he had just started with partners, Stocks Manchester Ltd, buying end-of-line and discounted stocks and supplying them to discount stores.
