From Crisis to Champion: How One Woman Transformed Her Trauma
A young woman who vanished an astonishing 50 times during her teenage years is now dedicating her life to ensuring other vulnerable children do not suffer the same isolation. Jade Knight, now 23, first disappeared at the age of 15 while struggling to cope with her type 1 diabetes in hospital.
"I was really struggling with my chronic illness and feeling lost in the world," Jade revealed to The Independent. "I didn't know what 'missing' was – I just walked out as an escape. I didn't take a phone or anything with me. I just went because I needed somewhere to breathe." What began as a short walk became a pattern of disappearance that would continue for years, with her parents repeatedly reporting her missing to the police.
A Life-Saving Intervention and a Near-Fatal Wake-Up Call
The turning point came when Jade was introduced to the charity Missing People. "There were a lot of times when speaking to the Missing People charity actually helped me go back," she said. "They made me feel safe enough and gave me the space to talk about what I needed to speak about."
However, one disappearance at age 16 proved almost fatal. Her physical health deteriorated due to her diabetes, leading to a coma. "I had a tracheostomy, and my parents didn't know if I was ever going to wake up," Jade recalled. "I was in intensive care for about two weeks, and I was very, very lucky to wake up. When I did, I couldn't even sit up. It was the most powerless feeling." This harrowing experience became a catalyst for change, forcing her to find new ways to cope.
Running Towards a New Future and Advocating for Change
During her recovery in occupational therapy, Jade began setting goals, including running a marathon. In 2021, she achieved this ambition by completing the Royal Parks Half Marathon for Missing People, raising money for the charity she credits with saving her life. She has since run her third major world marathon in New York. "I fell in love with running," she said. "It gave me the same outlet that [going] missing did – that kind of freedom."
Jade, who lives in Maidstone, has channelled her experiences into profound change. She studied professional policing at university, now works for the ambulance service, and has even spoken in parliament. She works with police forces across the UK to improve their missing children programmes.
Her advocacy is desperately needed. According to the National Crime Agency, more than 70,000 children were reported missing in almost 210,000 incidents in 2023-24. This means a child disappears in the UK every two and a half minutes. Tragically, on average, a child who is missing dies every week.
Jade is not surprised by these figures, citing the pandemic and a lack of funding for children's mental health as exacerbating factors. She believes The Independent's SafeCall campaign, launched in partnership with Missing People, will be "life-changing" for children in crisis.
Her message to struggling young people is one of hard-won hope: "For any young person who feels like they want to disappear, please know that there is support out there for you. Just because you feel this way now doesn't mean you will feel this way forever. Things can change, and you have that power."
Please donate now to The Independent and Missing People’s SafeCall campaign to help raise £165,000 for a free service to support and protect vulnerable young people.
