It Could Have Been You

In February 1992, Merlyn Nuttal was hurrying to work early one morning, heading for Brixton tube station. Then a man appeared and forced her at knifepoint towards an empty end of terrace house. Forty-five minutes later, naked, bleeding from throat slashes, Merlyn, near death, was on the front steps of the house trying to summon help. She survived the horrific rape and attempted murder but her fight to recover, and to gain compensation, brought her into surprising areas of resistance - including a refusal by the NHS to pay for plastic surgery to her neck scars. Her story aims to help other victims - whether women or men - navigate the complex, sometimes indifferent, system and to provide vital information for others who care for victims.