I Just Wanted to be Loved: A Boy Eager to Please. The Man Who Destroyed His Childhood. The Love That Overcame it. [Paperback]

Praise for ‘Please, Daddy, No’:

‘Truly moving.’ Fern Britten, This Morning

The author of the bestselling Please Daddy No reveals more harrowing experiences of his neglected childhood.

Having survived the terrible abuse at the hands of his stepfather, Stuart has to reach within himself again to live through the degradation of prison. He is released back into the world without any support or counselling from the authorities.

The child abuse and numerous court cases had almost destroyed him, and Stuart became reliant on drugs and alcohol. With his life spiralling out of control, Stuart attempts suicide a number of times. The last try leaving the doctors that resuscitated him incredulous he had survived.

At the point of no-return, Stuart was sent to an hospital in the Scottish highlands to fight the demons that assailed him and rebuild his life. This is the remarkable story of his fight to be his own man.

Without many people I would be dead least of all, my wife. She has held my hand through every event imaginable and she has always been there to hear my cries. I love her to the core and yet I have treated her so badly at times that many would have run - she did not!

For every man or woman that has stood by the side of a person so traumatised by their past, I applaud you. Sometimes we need to do the opposite of what our heart is telling us and sometimes it is only through practising `tough love' that the survivor can emerge into who he or she was truly meant to be.

I am sorry for every pain and suffering I have caused in this world and I still cry at the cruelty of others. I will never be perfect, but I try to do my best `a day at a time' and to help others return home from their terrible journeys. I know today that I was often kept prisoner by my own mind but again through the love of others and faith, I was able to see the real picture.

I am sorry too for those who have not made the journey and I often ask myself 'why them and not me'. To see the pain and suffering of loved ones once they depart this plane, is so painful that I realise now 'tomorrow is another day'. Death is forever and today I want to live!

`Everyone in life deserves to be loved and I am no exception'.

Stuart lives in Manchester with his wife Tracey. He has two children, Matthew and Rebecca, whom he loves dearly. He runs his own business and is continually improving the quality of his life whilst assisting others in recovering from past traumas and addiction