Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Once known as ‘Little Hercules’ across the globe, Richard Sandrak has made a heartbreaking admission 25 years later.
The lad earned the title at just eight-years-old, as he was tipped as the ‘world’s strongest boy’. But having stopped lifting weights as an adult, there have long been theories about what Sandrak’s life growing up was really like.
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Having been working out every day since he was just five, he was able to bench press three times his own body weight, become a global phenomenon as the media covered the young bodybuilder’s story.
And during that time, Sandrak says he was being abused.
The now 32-year-old’s childhood was far from normal but it wasn’t totally something he was used to, as he ‘had nothing to compare it to’.
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After struggling with alcoholism, Sandrak is now over a year sober, free from the controlling influences he grew up with.
“When people talk about a childhood memory, it’s usually associated with something positive. I can’t really relate. For me, it was a daily occurrence to where I was physically and emotionally abused by my dad,” he told Metro.
The former body builder explained his physique came as a result of ‘working out eight hours a day, constant weight training and a diet of pure clean eating.'
Sandrak’s parents, Lena and Pavel, homeschooled him and he grew up without any friends, experiencing a very different upbringing to other kids at the time.
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“My father would often go into rage fits and what would start as a normal workout ended up with me doing a triple split kick [performing three consecutive kicks in a single motion] for 12 hours,” he claimed.
“I’ll never forget it, because it was just extremely exhausting and emotionally heavy. And there were more times than I can count where a simple training session turned into what felt like a really intense hostage situation.”
At around the age of eight or nine, he recalled having to do non-stop squats while watching a film.
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“That was something I got used to because that was my entire childhood. That’s how I was raised. I had nothing to compare it to. I didn’t have a friend to tell me, that’s not what we do,” he claimed.
“I got physically beaten into it. My dad was very abusive. I learned early on not to ask to stop. You grit your teeth and keep doing what you’re told.”
Being in the limelight and meeting celebrities did bring some positives, including the fact his dad would have to treat him properly in public.
“It was a very confusing childhood. I don’t recall too many pleasant memories, until after my dad left,” he added.
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Sandrak called 911 on his father after a particularly violent assault on his mum in 2003.
He said he had always been too fearful to make ‘that dramatic step’, but with the abuse getting worse he made the leap: “And I called them, told them not to sound their sirens, and they came and they took him away. It’s been a breath of fresh air ever since."
Pavel was imprisoned for abuse and deported to his home nation of Ukraine.
The former ‘Little Hercules’ has not seen him since, with no interest in reconnecting and no apology from the father.
“I will always hold resentment towards him. They say ‘forgive and forget’. I may be willing to forgive, but I will never forget,” Sandrak said.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Topics: Mental Health, Viral, Parenting
Jess Battison