Jaycee Dugard

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"For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse. For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation." (Dugard) Jaycee's traumatic event as a kid inflicted pain, loss, and diminished her and her children's life for 18 years . Jaycee Lee Dugard was an 11 year old girl who lived in South Lake Tahoe, California with her mom Terry, step-dad Carl, and younger sister Shayna. On the morning of June 10, 1991 she was abducted by Phillip and Nancy Garrido on her way to the bus stop and held captive for 18 years. She was abducted near her home in South Lake Tahoe and then taken about 120 miles away near San Francisco. She gave birth to her first daughter at age 14 and her second daughter in 1997, and was later found on August 26, 2009. To be a hero, traits you must posses are courage and optimism because you have to be willing to go into tough situations with a positive attitude. Jaycee Dugard is an inspiration because she shows courage and an optimistic attitude during and after traumatic experiences, exemplifying qualities of a true hero.

Backyard where she was held captive for 18 years. (http://lazyslob.com)

Being courageous is a huge part of being a hero because you have to be able to make risky decisions for the better, or worse, for not only yourself, but others around you as well. Jaycee explains her reasoning for creating her foundation when she says:  "The mission is: to be of service to families that have suffered a familial or nonfamilial abduction or other trauma; to spread the message of compassion and awareness through educational programs; to encourage the collaboration of various entities to provide "Protected Spaces" for families to heal. We believe that families heal best from within, but they need assistance to accomplish this. We connect families to support and services they need in order to recover from the abduction or other traumatic events and in many cases provide the funding for these services." (Dugard "About Us.")   Jaycee Dugard created a foundation to help families reconnect after major family traumas such as abductions. She is doing this by providing families with the support services they need so they can eventually overcome the traumatic times in their life. Diane Sawyer, a third interviewer with ABC says: "She was held captive in a backyard shed for 18 years and managed to survive her incredibly horrific experience. After enduring so many years of trauma, it can be hard to think how anyone could heal and move forward from such a dark and sad time..."  (The Resilience if Jaycee Dugard: Overcoming Kidnapping) After being held captive and through the traumatic times in her life, with talking to a therapist and getting the help she needed to recover, she is now able to live like she used. That can be challenging to do after enduring such an experience an she took it with great courage. Having courage is such an important characteristic because it shows how strong you can be even at your weakest times which will inspire others to be strong too. Jaycee Dugard is a perfect example of a courageous person because she is constantly reminding and inspiring people to stay strong, making her a hero

Jaycee dugard today. (http://www.tvguide.com ())

Being optimistic is also another major role in being a hero because even when you are at a low or in a bad situation the best thing you can do is stay positive and have hope that you will make it. Jaycee describes her life now when she says: "Yes, I do believe I'm lucky. I could not have gotten through my ordeal without believing that someday my life would make sense. Life's adventure is important. It is important to live each day to its fullest, whatever life brings you."  (Dugard introduction pages xi and xii)  Throughout being in captivity Jaycee would think about all the positive things like believing one day she would reunite with her mom. Now being free she thinks about how grateful she is to be alive another day and lives each day to the best she can. While interviewing Dugard, Diane stated that:  "While in captivity, Dugard would constantly think about her mother, a positive reminder of the safe, loving home she once had. The positive experiences she had as a child before her abduction are the reason she was able to survive and move past such a horrific experience."  (The Resilience if Jaycee Dugard: Overcoming Kidnapping) Jaycee is always thinking positive even through all the negativity and hardships she's been through. The tragic experiences don't affect her attitude and outtake on life as she is living every second of it as if it is her last. While Jaycee was being held captive she would think of all the positive outcomes there would be if she made it out alive. Those were the things that kept Jaycee from giving up because of how badly she wanted it. Now that she has her life back she doesn't let her past define who she is which is a quality every hero should have.

Overall, Jaycee exemplifies what a true hero is by showing her courageousness and positivity during difficult situations. She's courageous because she took a risk to start a foundation that she thought would potentially be able to help people that had similar situations. She is also courageous because she was able to recover and look past her situation so she could live a happier life making her optimistic. " I'm also writing in the hopes that it will be of help to someone going through, hopefully not similar conditions, but someone facing a difficult situation of their own- whatever that may be. It's easy for people to be horrified and shocked when someone is abducted, but what about all the other adults and kids living in sad homes?" (Dugard introduction page x)      

Jaycee is an inspiration because even through her bad experiences, she wants to help other people who had similar situations or families going through other hard times. She exemplifies a hero by being courageous and by staying positive through it all. Traumatic situations can be difficult to recover from and with qualities like being courageous and optimistic it will make it a lot easier. Jaycee has created a foundation to raise money for people to receive therapy after enduring trauma that also helped her recover. After everything she has been through she uses it as something to learn from and help others with similar situations, making her the perfect example of a hero.

Works Consulted

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