- [Narrator] Nicole Rensol

always had a natural talent for sports.

Growing up near Rock Riverin Janesville, Wisconsin,

she found a love forwater skiing at age nine,

eventually becoming a national champion.

- I was the third personin the world to climb

to the top of a five-high pyramid.

As a young child, Iwas in a water ski team

and I excelled very well with that.

And that made me who I was,at that time in my life.

- [Narrator] Nicole faced many challenges,

achieving those heights of success.

She was born with hearing loss

that would get worse through the years.

Then, at six years old,

she was molested by a male babysitter.

She told her parents,

but they dismissed itas kids fooling around.

It happened again by a friend'sbrother when she was 12.

This time, she said nothing.

- I felt useless and dirty and broken.

And by it not being resolved,

I kind of think that itmade me feel like my needs

weren't met and that myfeelings were invalid.

And that kind of made me shut off.

- [Narrator] By the time Nicole was 12,

she was drinking andsmoking cigarettes and pot.

- It seemed to solve my problems.

I seemed to feel good enough, invincible.

I didn't think so much aboutthe things that were going on.

It was like I was pretendingto be someone else.

- [Narrator] Also during this time,

she started wearing hearing aids

and her classmatesteased her relentlessly.

Trying to hide her feelingsof embarrassment and shame,

she poured herself into water skiing.

Then, another of life'schallenges would take its toll,

her parents' divorce.

Devastated, she quit skiing.

- I didn't know how to handle the feelings

that I felt inside. And so,I just turned to a bottle,

continued to smokecigarettes and thought that,

that was gonna be the best for me.

- [Narrator] In college, Nicole partied

and also began eatingexcessively and gained 30 pounds.

To lose it, she started purging

and eventually became bulimic.

- It relieved so much pressureand it started to like quiet

those voices of never being good enough.

I couldn't control myparents getting divorced,

but I can control whatI ate, how I ate it,

when I did, if I threw up,

or if I just stayedaway from food, period.

- [Narrator] During herthird year in college,

she became pregnant by aguy she had been dating.

At nine weeks, her mom convincedher to have an abortion.

She had no idea of the remorsethat would quickly follow.

- I walked in one person and came out

somebody completely different.

That scarred me in more waysthan I thought possible.

And as soon as I came out,I went into this depression.

- [Narrator] Soon aftershe dropped out of college,

she also started takingprescription pain meds,

then her boyfriend left.

Unable to hold down a jobbecause of her addiction,

she turned to prostitution, stealing

and panhandling to get her next fix.

- I was a slave to drugs.

I did absolutely anythingand everything for drugs.

It was like I worshiped drugsas though drugs were my God

and whatever they demanded, I gave.

- [Narrator] Over a period of five years,

Nicole would go into ninerehabs, numerous psych wards,

and serve several jail sentences,

including felony drug chargesand violating probation.

In that time, she would alsomake three suicide attempts.

By age 30, Nicole had no home

and was addicted to crack and meth.

- And I started to question,well God if you're real

and I've tried to die andI've tried to do things

to just end it, how come I'm still here?

There has to be a purposefor all this pain.

- [Narrator] Then in August2015, lying on the floor

in a dirty apartmentwith other drug users,

Nicole finally realizedher life needed to change.

- And I remember laying there,

with like tears running down my eyes,

like just, I knew that I couldn't die.

I didn't have a gun to kill myself

and everything I'd tried, had run out.

And so I cried out to Godand said, "You know what,

I'm ready to change,I'll do whatever I can."

- [Narrator] The next day,a neighbor who had given her

food before, invited herto go to church with her,

Nicole accepted the invitation.

- Deep inside of me, I knewthat I deserved a better life,

that I wasn't this bad person.

So there had to be somethingmore to my life than just this.

- [Narrator] Within a week,

Nicole moved to Muskegon, Michigan

and enrolled in Teen Challenge.

The very next day, shesurrendered her heart to God

and soon after, was baptized.

- I can tell you thatmy whole heart felt new

and that I just, I felt lighter.

Like I had lost 50 pounds of garbage,

just all soaked to thebottom and I floated up.

- [Narrator] Nicole went on tograduate from Teen Challenge

and says over time, God brokeevery addiction in her life.

- God healed me out ofdrug addiction, bulimia,

self-destructive behaviors,self hatred, anger.

I truly feel like I was able to heal

that little girl inside of me,

that never had that love and acceptance.

- [Narrator] Today, Nicolehas a good, steady job

in a local factory andis even a home owner.

She has a message foranyone struggling with

addictions and the pain of abuse.

- Give your life to God

because He loves you unconditionally.

You don't have to do anything for it.

There's hope no matterwhat you have gone through

you can be forgiven and you can change

and God will help you.

(lighthearted music)