Spent some days where I couldn't even get dressed. Life stops.
You just want it to go away.
If you go on the Internet and you try and look for information on cyber bullying, there is a lot, but mainly for children, teenagers.
But there's nothing for adults, and it affects more adults than we actually know. Fitness and beauty pageant organizer Sarah Donohue knows better than most how online bullying
can ruin lives. She was at the top of her game, and then it all collapsed. But we didn't know why.
When you are abused like this over the Internet, it's very hard to describe it, because a lot of people say, oh, you can just ignore it. You can't ignore it.
It's with you all the time that, you know that when you turn the Internet on,
it's going to be there on Twitter, it's going to be there on Facebook, and there's nothing that you can do to stop it.
Before running pageants, Sarah had been a champion in both power-boating and fitness competitions.
And she was surprised at how deeply she was affected.
I'm naturally a very strong person. I'm not this sort of person that I ever thought could become a victim.
This broke me, you know, and if this can break me, I think this is why people really need to take note.
I was very surprised in the way it affected Sarah, because, in all honesty, I'd never seen her cry before.
We've been together for
a couple of years at that point, I'd never seen anything affecting her in this this way. I was ashamed about being bullied, because as an adult, you shouldn't really
be bullied, should you? You think it's something that happens to teenagers and children. I can't believe people could do things like that.
Sarah was targeted by former contestants and associates after a disagreement about the Miss Galaxy Universe competition she runs.
In the first few days, you just think, oh, it's silly, it'll go away. Then it gets worse. And then more people join in, you start getting threats.
People start saying really nasty things, and then people that you don't even know join in. They often say that when you get one cyber bully, a cyber bully soon becomes a mob.
They are keyboard warriors, only when there's a keyboard involved. They haven't got the goods to be able to say anything to your face.
And after three months of enduring the abuse, she and Lee felt they had no option but to move home and postpone their wedding.
Some of the threats did actually suggest coming up to the house. Where we used to live was in the middle of nowhere, so quite vulnerable, really. It just got so much. We just kind of wanted a
clean slate. We literally just packed up and left.
I cancelled my first wedding with Lee because we just couldn't go through, and all my friends are saying, no, Sarah, it's okay. You can do it. I said, no, I can't. I can't do it.
How can you expect somebody to focus on what will be the biggest day in their life when they can't focus on anything else other than the abuse you are getting online.
With cyber bullying on the rise, new UK legislation in 2014
means that perpetrators can now face up to two years in prison.
You win. After starting legal proceedings, Sarah received 15,000 pounds out of court settlement.
She's got over it and she's happy. She's back on her feet and she's trying to put her shows together again.
I will never get bullied again on social media.
I know all the warning signs, I know how to deal with it, and I know how to nip it in the bud. I know what to do, and after that,
nothing can affect me again. Now, Sarah has married Lee and plans to fund a website to help other cyber bullying victims.
There's a lot of people out there that need to be helped, but there's no where for them to go. As soon as you become an adult and you stop being a teenager, where else do they go?There is nowhere.
Cyber bullying, it does ruin lives.