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This week we are thrilled to chat to Gil Merrick, author of the powerful memoir Haunted Victory: Healing From Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Decades of Addiction That Followed. His story is raw, deeply personal, and ultimately one of resilience and redemption. In Haunted Victory, Gil recounts his experience as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and how that trauma fueled a decades-long battle with addiction. His memoir isn’t just about pain, it's also about healing. With striking honesty, Gil shares the long, often difficult journey of reclaiming his life, relationships, and sense of self. This episode details Gil’s story and we discuss themes of SA and other adult themes. 

Book: https://a.co/d/1F7thBU

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CONTENT WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT, VIOLENCE, SEXUAL VIOLENCE, MURDER, TORTURE, SEXUAL ABUSE, CHILD ABDUCTION: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED PLEASE OBSERVE:

When Shasta Groene was eight years old, she and her 9-year-old brother Dylan were abducted from their Idaho home by serial killer, Joseph Edward Duncan. After a forty-eight-day ordeal, she was rescued, her brother wasn’t. Surviving those weeks in the woods was only the beginning of her harrowing journey. In the following years she struggled to outrun her trauma, a pattern of self-destructive behavior shadowing her like an ever-worsening thunderstorm. But she still had hope buried deep inside, every bit as much as the little girl who had been held captive in the woods. This would be an all-new battle for Shasta. And she was determined not to lose.

In this EXCLUSIVE Part 1 Episode, Shasta recounts in graphic and harrowing detail, the events leading up and including the murder of her family in front of her, and her abduction and the forty-eight day ordeal and her eventual escape!

Shasta’s experience has been turned into an amazing book by #1 New York Times Best Selling author Gregg Olsen who will feature along with Shasta in Part 2.  

The book is: ‘OUT OF THE WOODS: A Girl, a Killer, and Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home’

Gregg was able to get Shasta to open up and share her trauma. He is a true talent and an impassioned voice for victims and their families. Olsen has been a guest on Dateline, 48 Hours, 20/20, Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, Today, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, Snapped, Forensic Files, Inside Edition, Nancy Grace, Extra, Access Hollywood, NPR and Biography, among dozens of other shows. 

We can’t wait to have them both on for PART 2 to understand Shasta’s continued trauma recovery from this utterly devastating ordeal. 

Thank you Shasta we are blessed to have you.

Out Of The Woods: https://a.co/d/1l3GoP9

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Edward_Duncan

Shasta’s GoFundMe link - It directly supports her and her children with living expenses and essentials. Here’s the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-shasta-groene-and-her-children

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Gina Horan, is a terminal lung cancer survivor and author of The Dead Girl’s Guide to Terminal Cancer, 

Gina joins us to share her story and an uncensored survivor’s perspective on cancer, immunotherapy, and why the modern medical system is failing itself and its patients.

In 2019, Gina was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given just 72 hours to live after a year of declining health and mistreatment by some medical professionals. Nearly six years later, she is cancer-free and healthier than ever. In The Dead Girl’s Guide to Terminal Cancer, Gina shares her remarkable journey to show that survival is possible—even when doctors say otherwise. 

CONTENT WARNING: Our listers should know that this at times, can be a hard listen, with discussions about near death and despair. But, Gina is here, and has a great sense of humor to add! 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/59zlJlE

Substack: http://substack.com/@eugeniahoran

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In this episode, we meet Ian Fee, and discuss his story from alcoholism to sobriety!

After losing everything due to over-drinking from a very young age, Ian reached a breaking point and began his journey to reclaim his life. Today, Ian is a successful author and entrepreneur.

Proudly sober since 2017, he has dedicated himself to personal growth, family, and living a life of purpose and clarity. His journey from addiction to empowerment has become his mission: to help others trapped in the same cycle of self-destruction break free and embark on their own transformative path to health, passion, and a renewed mindset.

Through his book, Wild Ride To Sobriety, Ian aims to inspire others to overcome their struggles and embrace a life of balance, success, and fulfillment.  

We love this episode!

Site: https://makeitgreat.me/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/makeitgreat.me/reel/DCXkQ8YA9uW/

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Ride-Sobriety-Transformation-Oblivion/dp/B0DHYR1YST/

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Dr Kate Lund is a psychologist, TEDx speaker, and podcast host of The Optimized Mind, and she spends her days helping people turn those "what now?" Moments into genuine resilience.. Her work centers on translating over 20 years of research into simple, science-backed habits that real humans can use during in their hardest of times, whether they're navigating parenthood, setbacks, or that feeling of life falling apart.

Dr Kate talks about her early childhood with hydrocephalus, (she explains what that is!!) and subsequent tumor diagnosis, and how that set her apart as different than her peers and at the same time fostered a sense of resilience and possibility beyond the challenges. 

As a best selling author, she has seen firsthand how messy, imperfect resilience can change someone’s story. Her book, ‘Step Away: The Keys to Resilient Parenting’, is out in October 2025. 

Book: https://a.co/d/4CaffaC

Site: Www.katelundspeaks.com 

TedX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p6YcTsWySU&t=14s

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WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC AND GORY DESCRIPTIONS OF HARROWING MOMENTS.

Jay Setchell has been dead 3 times. In 1969 in the Marines, in 1973 by a DUI driver, and then a third time in 1981, a swimming pool incident, involving drowning, multiple broken vertebrae in neck, and paralyzed from shoulders down.This really is an insane episode and not for the faint hearted, but Jay is HERE to tell his ongoing story! Beyond this, Jay was close to dying from blood borne MRSA staph infection in 2004, and his wife was told to go home and make funeral arrangements from Covid Delta in 2021. 73 surgeries and counting and after everything, Jay NEVER stopped trying. Whether it’s courage, grit, perseverance, determination, anger, pain, or just being pissed off, Jay’s mantra is “it’s always too soon to quit”! Jay is 75 1/2 as describes life as a gift,  even with being largely paralyzed, and in immense amounts of pain on a daily even an hour basis. Jay has been divorced twice, married 3rd times, has adopted kids, natural kids, step kids, and many grandkids!! Join us to hear Jay’s outlook on life today!

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This is an episode like nothing we have ever experienced before. Here at WTFMU, we like to show the journey through the darkness, and how we have navigated through our traumas and experiences. Yousef's story, was focusing on his burnout from relationships and business, and how he started to turn a corner. It quickly transpired that Yousef is using AI to turn his hopes, dreams, fortunes and entire life around! Yousef hit a brutal wall, a devastating breakup, total burnout, and financial collapse that stripped away everything he thought made him strong. As the episode goes on, we hear that Yousef spends up to 18 hours a day in Chat GPT!!! At times not leaving the house for days on end, and is now at a point where he works with Chat GPT to make every single decision in his life, from whether to take a shower, to who he should be friends with! We would love your thoughts and feedback on this episode.

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Join us this week for the amazing and extraordinary episode with Jenny Brandemuehl, who lost her husband in a plane crash just a few years ago. Jenny takes us back to the fateful day, the phone call, the initial hope that her husband, Mark, had survived although badly burned, and the ultimate and tragic ending a few weeks after the crash. The worst day of Jenny's life, as it transpired, became the beginning of the rest of her life. As she grieved and found support, she built strength hope for the future. Thank you Jenny!

Website: www.foreverflyfree.com

Charity: Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, 

Before Oct 14th, listeners can pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles:

Amazon Preorder Forever Fly Free

Substack: Jenny Brandemuehl's Substack

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Calix Lewis Reneau is the author of Dancing with the Black Dog: A Survivor’s Guide to Depression, a book that’s equal parts survival manual and storytelling companion for anyone navigating depression. As a long term sufferer of depression, Calix has been through the darkest of times on many occasions, and joins us this week to talk about his depression in a way that’s real, not clinical. Storytelling is Calix’s background, he works in Hollywood as a writer/producer, which has helped him on his journey to unpack his mental health journey. For those who struggle with any kind of mental health, from simply having a bad day, through to suicidal ideation and major depression, anxiety, ptsd, and beyond, Calix has a likable and open way of discussion these dark moments. 

This a very candid, real, and raw episode, but not without its funny and uplifting moments as we discuss life, and battling every day with the human brain that leads us astray on too many occasions!

Calix Lewis Reneau - Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Black-Calix-Lewis-Reneau/dp/1481243101/

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Victoria Lenormand has a personal story that fits the heart of our show. She spent nearly 30 years as a police detective and public servant—work that left her carrying years of unprocessed trauma. Things really hit a breaking point when the very systems she’d worked to uphold began failing her own family, especially as she tried to support her neurodivergent child.

That was the moment everything shifted. She walked away from the career that had shaped her identity and started a painful but powerful journey of healing, unlearning, and rebuilding. What followed was deep inner work, nervous system repair, and a total realignment of her life’s mission. Today, she helps families like hers navigate education, health, and parenting outside the traditional mold—because she’s lived the fallout when those systems don’t work.

Her story is raw, emotional, and ultimately hopeful. A story about burnout, identity loss, and what it takes to rise again with a new sense of purpose.

• Website: https://geminidirections.co.uk/
• Book: https://amzn.eu/d/5w68EcW
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-lenormand-2129227b/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geminidirections.co.uk/#

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