Victim Zero: Jimmy Savile tried to ruin my life. I was the first

Kat Ward was the first victim to speak out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Jimmy Savile, and her testimony was a catalyst for the uncovering of decades of abuse and cover-ups.

Ward’s childhood was deprived and marked by sexual abuse, and she was placed into a home for troubled children. She first encountered Savile as a 14 year old at Duncroft Approved School in Surrey, where he would regularly drive up in his Rolls Royce and offer sweets and cigarettes in return for sexual favours.

Ward first spoke on camera as part of Newsnight’s infamous shelved Savile expose, but it was ITV’s Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile that led to his unmasking as a serial sexual offender and opened the floodgates for hundreds of other victims to come forward.

Although the last few years have been trying, they have ultimately brought Kat vindication after years of being accused as an attention-seeker and liar. This is a unique, harrowing and immensely moving perspective on one of the biggest news stories of the last decade.

Kat Ward is a survivor. Having overcome a seemingly star-crossed early life–in which she endured extreme sexual and physical abuse–she now writes professionally. She is the author of the KERI series, as well as a good-humored and insightful account of her struggle with bowel cancer, entitled A Life on the Toilet.