When former TV presenter Melody Horrill found a way to trust and love again thanks to a wild dolphin, the relationship helped free her from the trauma of childhood domestic violence.
This story is part of the June 19 edition of Sunday Life, which is a special reading issue.“Yep, loud and clear,” I answer. “Can you hear me?”Melody turned to education in an attempt to change her life, becoming a research assistant in Adelaide’s Port RiverI adjust my dress, breathe deeply. I can feel my heart thudding in my chest. Even after years of presenting Adelaide’s weather live every weeknight, I can still feel tendrils of past anxiety prodding at my core.
My TV persona had always disguised a niggling fear that I would never amount to anything, something I learnt from my father. As a child, he reminded me of my uselessness during those times he actually acknowledged my existence. Of course, he also noticed me when I threw myself between him and my mother during their violent fights at home. She would frequently come off worse than he did, suffering a bloodied nose, lip, or black eye. Little did I know that worse was to come.
After relocating to Adelaide, the fighting between my parents started again and escalated. I often intervened and sometimes got hurt in the process.“During one fight I became a contributor to the violence rather than trying to prevent it. After that, something inside of me fractured.” I often felt adrift, alone, and somehow damaged, but I kept these feelings hidden. I struggled to understand the darkness which frequently enveloped my heart and suffocated any belief in myself. After trying to lose myself in partying, I realised the only way I could change my life was by continuing my education.And so it was through this new start – through studying – that I met the “love of my life” – the Port River dolphin called Jock.
A short time later, I plunged into the murky depths of the river with Jock. I was both exhilarated and immediately at peace. His skin felt like rich silk under my hand. He allowed me to stroke his snout, I noticed lumps of scar tissue around his mouth – the result of fishing hooks lodged in his gums. I felt overcome with compassion for his wounds caused by humans, yet he completely accepted me without coercion. Although he was a wild creature, I knew instinctively he would never hurt me.
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