You would think being seventeen is great. You're almost an adult, you can hang out with friends, go on a date; have fun. But for me it wasn't like that, and from a young age I knew it never could be. I lived in a time when birthdays were feared, and happiness, well it just wasn't there. There was nowhere to run, or hide, even your own house was scary; but I could think of only one thing. Survive. Survive and tell my story and the stories of others. My name is Carla Galleway and this is the story of how I ran away from the cure.