Through the fire

In November of 2012, sophomore Crystal Kurtz discovered a tumor in her right knee. Although the small cyst was benign, it needed to be removed to prevent any further pain or problems. There were no surgical complications and doctors expected Crystal to make a full recovery in a week and a half. Crystal was back in school the next day because for her the surgery was just a small hurdle compared to what she had already overcome.

Currently Crystal is a student, a volunteer and an athlete who cites reading and listening to music as some of her favorite hobbies. Talking to her, one would never guess that Crystal was once the victim of child abuse.

Crystal, the second eldest of ten siblings, once lived in a small, musty trailer. She recalls sharing one bed with some of her siblings while others would sleep on the floor.

“We lived alone,” Crystal said. “My parents: they were drug addicts.”

By age five, Kurtz and her younger brother, Peninsula freshman Ernesto, were helping to cook and clean for the remaining children.

“My older brother did the shopping. I have no idea where the money came from,” Crystal said.

When her parents were at home, they physically and emotionally abused their children.

“It was really hard to watch,” Crystal said. “I would cry because I didn’t want my sisters and brothers to get hurt or anything.” The beatings came without reason and Crystal believes they were fueled by her parents’ drug addiction.

“It made me feel that I was unloved,” Crystal said. “I didn’t have a mom and dad.”

Safe School Coordinator Christine Lopez said that she does not believe that adults enter parenthood with the intention of hurting their children, but situations in the adults’ past and present can affect the way they treat their own children.

“I think that every situation could be very different, [but] by no means is there any justification for that,” Lopez said.

When he was about six, Ernesto called the police on his parents, but when the police arrived their mother denied that any abuse had occurred in the home. After a year, the police returned and found scars on the children’s backs. Crystal does not know how Social Services was informed, but at seven years old, Crystal and her siblings were placed in the foster care system. Her older brother, however, ran away and Crystal has not heard from him since.

Crystal lived in her first foster home on her own. Though there was not much physical abuse, there was drug usage by her guardians and Crystal said that her foster parents often neglected her. Lopez said that neglect is a form of abuse in which a person’s basic needs are not met, and in Crystal’s case, her neglect was mostly emotional.

“They weren’t home at all. They didn’t care,” Crystal said.

After a few months, Social Services checked on Crystal and she was moved to another home. This time Crystal and Ernesto were placed together and they were much happier. Her new family taught her about God and she began to move on. They lived with the family for nearly four years, but the parents decided they couldn’t adopt the two children, so Crystal and Ernesto were placed with a third foster family, the Kurtz family. The siblings lived with them for a year before they were adopted by them.

With the life she lives today, Crystal feels that God has “answered her prayers.” While she does miss her siblings, Crystal does not like to think about them too often because they bring back many of her childhood memories.

“I have a really strong memory. I remember [my past] every day,” Crystal said. “I can’t get [it] out of my head.”

In spite of all that she has been through, Crystal still manages to think of others. Crystal volunteers at the Los Angeles County Fire Station 106 on Indian Peak Road, and would also consider adopting.

“When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter because I want to help people… and bring safety,” Crystal said. “I’m really interested in it.”

The strength and faith Crystal possesses have helped her move on from what she has been through. Lopez said that believing that there is a power “bigger and higher than [themselves]” can help people move on from abusive pasts.

“I think it’s important for kids or anybody…to remember that it wasn’t their fault,” Lopez said. “No matter what you did,  [or] what you said, that you didn’t deserve to be abused.”