For 12 years, TikToker Alana (@alanainbloomxo) was trapped in a toxic marriage with her abusive husband, who was a religious extremist.
She was forced to give birth to three of their five kids alone at home. He also isolated the family from the outside world and required them to stay at home or in the car whenever they went out.
He was afraid of any established system, so he didn’t let them have access to healthcare or public education. When Alana was six months into recovering from a severe concussion that was caused by her husband punching her in the head, he began talking about moving the family to the Alaskan wilderness to live off the grid.
“So, I knew it was getting really bad, and this was my last chance to save my family,” said Alana.
“The first person I told was his mother because I figured that if she knew it was getting physical, maybe she would do something. She did not. I told my neighbor, and then I told my aunt, and nobody believed me.”
She hadn’t been in contact with her parents for a couple of years because they hated her husband. They knew she was in a bad situation and didn’t want anything to do with it unless she was willing to leave.
One day, Alana offered to run to the gas station for him. She took a phone to use as a GPS since her short-term memory was still recovering from the concussion. She called her parents, but they didn’t pick up.
“I’m over here trying to do a kamikaze mission to escape, and I’m calling somebody I’m not supposed to call, and if they call back at the wrong times, I’m busted,” said Alana.
“So, I leave a voicemail. Obviously, I am not okay. I am bawling hysterically, not holding it together, crying, and telling them that I screwed up my life and that they needed to call me at certain times so that I don’t get caught.”
The next morning, her parents called her when it was safe. They made secret plans on how to contact each other. Her parents also called a lawyer to arrange her escape with the kids.
While they were doing that, Alana went through the house and threw away her journals so that her husband wouldn’t find them.
She also made note of any important documents she would need. Three of her five children did not have birth certificates or social security numbers. She kept quiet about the escape plan for a week.
The night before they broke out, she told her oldest child about what they were going to do. The next morning, when her husband was gone, she told the rest of the kids and instructed them to pack their bags in 15 minutes.
“My lawyer told me that I would be able to come back to the house in 10 days, so I told them only to pack a few things,” said Alana.
“Little did I know, we were never coming back. My mom and my brother flew in the driveway. We threw everything in the van and took off.”
They hid out for a while, and Alana even slept with a crowbar for protection. Her husband sent the police to her mom’s house, trying to find them and claiming that Alana stole the kids. Not long after that, he sent her divorce papers to try to get the kids back.
At their first court date, the judge gave Alana temporary sole custody. Their next court date was scheduled for two weeks later, and her husband took his own life before the hearing. Afterward, she was able to slowly rebuild her and her family’s lives.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
