Rape victim's story helps others to seek support

More victims of sexual assault have sought help to deal with their experiences after a rape victim spoke out about his ordeal.

Mr Sam Thompson chose to make public the attack on him in Manchester on September 2 last year, when he was raped by two men.

The DJ, who lives in Winthorpe but regularly performs in Manchester, spoke to the Advertiser in May about the devastating effects of the assault by strangers following a night out in the city.

After police concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring prosecutions, Sam tried to cope by focussing on work as a recruitment consultant but eventually suffered a breakdown.

However, after referring himself to the Survivors Manchester charity, which helps male victims of sexual abuse, Sam was given support.

That helped him to speak about the attack and subsequent recovery, both in the Advertiser and the national media.

“Having spoken to Survivors Manchester, there has been a direct correlation between me talking about my story and people coming forward,” he said.

“There have been a lot of male survivors, and especially young, straight males, who have come forward. That was almost the target audience because that’s what happened to me.

“I’ve exceeded the expectations about what I thought I could achieve through this.”

As part of his bid to raise awareness – and to give back to the charity that supported him – Sam completed a 48-hour DJ marathon in Manchester at the weekend.

A combination of planning, determination and energy drinks saw Sam complete the challenge at the Gaydio studios on Sunday evening to raise £5,285.

“I am exhausted as it was really tiring,” said Sam, whose DJ name is Bassduckfresh.

“But I enjoyed the majority of it. About 20 family and friends came up from Newark, even if it was for just an hour, which was great.

“I did struggle to stay awake from about 2am to 4am – when you stand up in front of your decks and you can feel your eyes closing then you need a Red Bull to keep going.

“In the final hour people brought champagne and pizza, and the feeling of completing the challenge overtook any feelings of tiredness.”

An attempt to break a Guiness world record for longest continuous DJ set was not undertaken due to issues with obtaining the required independent assessors.

Money raised from the DJ marathon will be used by Survivors Manchester on a number of projects.