Hannah - "Heroes and Monsters"
Photo by Randy Bacon
I was born Hannah Kathleen Kendrick to a mother who was an angel in human form and a father who was a monster in many ways. Violence shaped our home, and survival meant escape. It took his imprisonment for us to finally be free. My childhood was divided between Osage Beach, Missouri which is where I was born, and Louisiana where my mother’s family lived. I moved between those places with my mother and sisters, learning early how to adapt, stay alert, and how to endure.
At eleven years old, I had to take the stand in a courtroom and tell the truth about what my best friend’s stepfather had done to me. I spoke clearly, but I did not cry. Because of that, he walked free. Years later, a woman stopped me while I was outside playing and told me she knew what Ron had done to me. I asked her how she knew and she said because she had walked in on him doing the same thing to her 3-yr old daughter. That knowledge came too late to protect me. I carried that pain inside and it turned into anger.
Photo by Randy Bacon
Motherhood softened that anger and gave me purpose. I built a career in the health insurance field and appeared successful on the outside, while inside my marriage was volatile and unsafe. On October 13, 2007, while I was sleeping with my children in our home, my husband set me on fire. I survived with burns covering 67 percent of my body. Recovery was long and brutal, and even now I live with ongoing medical issues from that night, including COPD. He is scheduled to be released from prison on October 13, 2026. 19 years to the day it happened.
Photo by Randy Bacon
In the aftermath, I also battled addiction. First to medications prescribed by doctors. Then to alcohol. What began as treatment became dependence. Recovery required honesty, humility, and help. In 2018, I began treatment. I got therapy and started addressing complex PTSD, chronic insomnia, and anxiety. Healing became layered and ongoing, but real. Just like being in the burn unit getting my skin debrided every morning at five a.m. This was the equivalent to that. But it was like I was debriding my mind, heart, and soul.
I self-published my story, “Heroes and Monsters” and advocacy became part of my calling. I support victims, survivors, and families navigating trauma. On October 10, 2025, I petitioned for a federal violence registry under Hannah’s Law on Change.org. I’ve written and published a domestic violence awareness anthem and another song titled “The Color Purple’, and I am preparing to be published again in a Christian anthology called Dear Daughters.
Photo by Randy Bacon
Today, my greatest blessings are my three adult daughters, my grandson, and my granddaughter. I turn 45 on March 11th and I'm grateful to still be here. I have scars, wisdom, and new beginnings. I still carry anxiety but not fear about the future. My faith sustains me. God has carried me when I could not walk, even when I resisted help. His love has always lived in my chest. My life now is about healing through helping and I intend to keep choosing that path every day. I pray my story gives just a mustard seed of hope and faith for those who are currently struggling.
As an ongoing nonprofit movement, the ability for us to change the world through people and their stories is determined by the love and support of compassionate people, like you. The photography, films, website, written stories, exhibitions, community events and all other aspects of 8 Billion Ones are made possible by the generous financial support of the "ones", like you. Please consider a tax-deductible gift today to help us continue sharing important, life-changing stories of people - just like you.