ARTHUR, Ill. (WAND) - A local woman has taken her broken past and made it into a bright future.

For the first 22 years of her life Nancy Plank grew up Amish. She currently lives in Arthur, but Plank is originally from Pennsylvania. Growing up Amish, Plank knew she was different.

"It started when I was about 13 years old. I just felt like I was different and I didn't fit in anywhere," explains Plank.

Plank started feeling sad and attempted suicide at the age of 13. She goes on to say she started to get angry with everyone around her and started to give up.

"I hated myself. I felt worthless. I didn't feel like I was enough," Plank recalls.

As a teen, Plank tried to runaway. However, the Amish ministers took matters into their own hands and removed Plank from her family. During the course of a year, Plank lived with multiple families. She felt like nobody wanted her around.

"I just got mad at everybody." Plank recalls getting tossed from home to home where she said at one point sexual violence occurred, "I was rapped the first time. The Amish ministers again shunned me."

Plank explains some of the Amish ministers see sexual assault and rape as the victim's issue. Women and men who are sexually abused and raped are not considered victims, instead some ministers place blame on them.

"Sexual assault and rape are very common among the Amish. This is one reason why I want to tell my story and to make people aware of what's going on," explains Plank.

In the moment Plank felt alone. She was able to move back in with her family, but things still didn't feel the same. Her mother had died in a house fire and she didn't have the strongest relationship with her father. The only solution was to leave the Amish at the age of 21.

"It was scary because I had nobody. I had a few friends here and there, but I didn't know who I was," explains Plank.

Plank describes those years during and then the short years after the Amish as "darkness". However, in January 2013 Plank got a huge wake-up call from her doctor.

"I was weighing almost 300 pounds. I had a six month old baby and the doctor told me I am border line diabetic," recalls Plank.

The now mother of two knew she needed to get her life together. She started going to the gym and putting the broken pieces of her life back together.

"I didn't want to walk down the street," Plank describes the feelings of being over weight "I would keep the blinds closed. I didn't want people to see Nancy."

Determined, Plank kept working and training. Then in September 2016, she had the opportunity to complete in the Illinois State Strongman.

"I didn't know until the next day I had made a state dead lift record for women at 365 pounds on a dead lift," Plank recalls. "Just that (weight) alone was enough motivation to keep going."

Plank now trains for weight lifting full-time. She's constantly in the gym working to improve. However, it isn't just physical strength. Plank uses her past as fuel to get stronger physically and mentally everyday.

"I want to inspire as many people as I can to not give up. Even though (life) it looks dark it doesn't feel like there is any hope, there is hope. There is light at the end of this darkness," explains Plank.

Nancy Plank is training for a weightlifting completion in Columbus, Ohio. You can follow her on Instagram to keep up with her journey and story.