"I run out of the bed with her. It's pitch black in the middle of the night in rural Mississippi and she goes on the porch and starts screaming 'Henry, Henry'. There is an old man who lived down the road that we call Cousin Henry; he was blind."
Oprah became tearful as she recounted what happened next.
"Cousin Henry comes down the road in the middle of the night to help my grandmother get my grandfather up off the floor. And after that, my grandmother put a chair underneath the doorknob and some tin cans around the chair. And that is how we slept every night. I'm sleeping, I always slept with, listening for the cans. Listening for what happens if that doorknob moves."
Oprah also revealed that although in that moment, her grandmother was a victim of abuse, she had also subjected a young Oprah to physical abuse. She recounted another incident as a young child when her grandmother doled out a harsh physical punishment.
"As I was bringing the water back, I was like playing with the water with my fingers … and my grandmother was looking out the window. And when I brought in the bucket, I'm sloshing the bucket cause I'm a little girl and she's like 'Were you playing in the water? Did you have your fingers in the water? That's our drinking water,'" Oprah recalled.
"I said 'no, ma'am' and she said 'I saw your fingers in the water', so she grabbed a switch and I got a really bad whipping for it and later when I put on my clothes to go to church one of the welts from my back opened up and bloodies the dress."
The Dr. Oz website states that Oprah will talk about how her childhood trauma has affected her adult life, explaining how it led to unwanted behaviours, emotions and thought patterns.
The revelations come as Oprah is promoting her new book What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing.
Oprah took to Instagram on Tuesday to share details of the book.
She wrote, "Many of the struggles I endured as a child resulted in trauma that would define many relationships, interactions and decisions in my life. It took decades of work, conversations and healing to break those cycles and make peace with my past".
She explained that she will be sharing stories on her Instagram throughout the week from her own life and encouraged her followers to do the same in the comments section.
Where to get help
If you're in danger now:
• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you.
• Run outside and head for where there are other people.
• Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you.
• Take the children with you.
• Don't stop to get anything else.
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay
Where to go for help or more information:
• Women's Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24/7 - 0800 refuge or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz
• Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz
• It's Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz
• Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and middle eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24/7 0800 742 584
• Ministry of Justice: www.justice.govt.nz/family-justice/domestic-violence
• National Network of Stopping Violence: www.nnsvs.org.nz
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women. www.whiteribbon.org.nz
