Episode 8

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Published on:

7th Jul 2025

Silent Systems, Shattered Bones

Melissa’s story isn’t one of passive survival—it’s one of ruthless advocacy and soul-shattering grief. When her son—a nonverbal, medically fragile man with severe disabilities—was neglected and injured under professional care, she was told he “just fell.” No investigation. No justice. And when she dared to speak up? Society turned its blame on her.

This episode is a masterclass in what it means to be a mother, an advocate, and a woman who refuses to be silenced.


Highlights:

  • 🧠 What it’s like to live in constant fight mode for 29 years
  • 💔 The horrifying story of her son’s injuries and the school’s response
  • 🔇 The dangerous reality of caregiver shame and victim-blaming
  • ✊ How she turned silence into activism—and grief into power
  • 📚 The journey behind her book Who Cares?
  • 🛑 What we must do to stop looking away from disability injustice
  • 🧍‍♀️ Why she stopped waiting for change—and started becoming it


🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • Parenting a child with severe disabilities from age 18
  • The moment she realized she was deep in survival mode
  • Medical trauma, long-term care failures, and systemic neglect
  • The unspoken grief of not being able to “protect your child”
  • The role of social media shame and public cruelty in silencing survivors
  • Her pivot into writing and public advocacy
  • The radical decision to not stay silent anymore


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“My job was to protect him—and I couldn’t. That pain has no words.”
“They said he just fell. He had a broken hip, femur, arm, and spirit.”
“One comment shut me down for a year. I almost didn’t tell our story.”
“People with disabilities have value. They have a voice. And we will not be ignored.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

This episode is an urgent, emotional call to wake the hell up. Melissa’s story isn’t just her own—it echoes the experience of thousands of caregivers navigating a broken system that refuses to protect the most vulnerable. It challenges every listener to stop looking away and start asking: What am I doing to make this world safer—for everyone?


If you've ever felt silenced, blamed, or invisible while advocating for someone you love… this episode will rip you open in the best way.


💬 Connect with Melissa:


🔗 Resources & Links:



🙌 Connect with Leticia:

Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok | Website


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About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted - The Podcast
Disrupted Unapologetic Conversations about Survival Mode
Survival Mode Disrupted is not just a podcast. It's a rebellion.

A raw, unfiltered space where we finally stop pretending we're fine and start telling the truth—the truth about the trauma we've carried, the identities they had to wear to survive, and the radical decisions we made to break free.

Because here's the deal: survival mode isn’t just a season. It’s a damn identity. One that so many were forced to adopt just to get through life, to stay safe, to stay needed, to stay sane. But eventually, it starts costing you more than it protects. Your peace. Your purpose. Your power.

This podcast is for the disruptors—the people who were told to stay small, stay silent, stay grateful for crumbs… and said “hell no.”

Hosted by Leticia, The Survival Mode Disruptor herself—a trauma recovery mentor, speaker, and woman who has lived through the fires of abuse, betrayal, and breakdown and still chose to rise—this show dives deep into the unapologetic exits from survival mode that no one talks about.

You’ll hear from women (and a few brave men) who walked away from toxic relationships, soul-sucking careers, generational dysfunction, religious trauma, cultural expectations, and the lies they were taught to believe about themselves. Not because it was easy—but because staying would’ve killed something sacred inside of them.

These are the stories of bold pivots, quiet courage, and messy but miraculous rebirths.

Each episode is a conversation—a disruption—meant to wake something up in you. Whether it’s a guest sharing the moment they chose themselves for the first time, or Leticia dropping a truth bomb that makes you question everything you’ve normalized, this podcast is here to shake the foundation of your survival mode identity and replace it with something truer. Something freer.

We’re not here for surface-level self-care tips or fake empowerment slogans.

We’re here to talk about what it really takes to:

Reclaim your voice after being silenced.

Reinvent yourself after being broken down.

Rewrite your story when everyone else wants you to stay the same.

Release the guilt of choosing YOU.

This is for those who are done performing. Done pleasing. Done pretending.

It’s for the ones ready to exit survival mode—not slowly, not quietly, but disruptively and unapologetically.

You won’t leave this podcast the same.
You’ll cry. You’ll rage. You’ll laugh.
You’ll see yourself in every story.
And more importantly, you’ll remember who the hell you are.

Welcome to Survival Mode Disrupted.
It’s not just a podcast.
It’s a movement.
And your exit begins here.

About your host

Profile picture for Leticia Francis

Leticia Francis

I am not here to inspire you—I am here to activate you.

As a Survivor, Keynote Speaker, and Trauma Recovery Mentor, I know what it’s like to fight battles no one sees. I also know that breaking free is possible. My work is about disrupting survival mode, exposing trauma-driven success cycles, and giving women the blueprint to reclaim their lives.

🔹 200+ podcast features & speaking engagements
🔹 Global Women of Choice Award Winner 2022
🔹 Creator of the Survival Mode Exit Plan
🔹 Host of Survival Mode Disrupted Podcast