A Ballet dancer prepares backstage during the final dress rehearsal for the famous Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky at the Joburg Ballet, Johannesburg, South Africa, 04 October 2018. The premiere of Nutcracker is scheduled for 05 October and the show will run for two weeks. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

People play with water as they celebrate the Songkran holiday which marks the Thai New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)

Su Daocheng rides his home-made mechanical horse vehicle on a street in Shiyan, Hubei province January 18, 2015. Su spent 2 months making this 1.5 metre high and 2 metre long horse, which weighed 250 kilograms with 4 legs and 2 supportive wheels, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Australian actress Joy Smithers poses beside a poster featuring Australian cricketer Brett Lee during the official launch of the AceStar underwear range at Pink Salt on August 19, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mike Flokis/Getty Images)

The finishing touches are made to a giant sculpture on the Hayward Gallery entitled “Urban Fox” and made from straw bales on April 18, 2011 in London, England. The sculpture features in the Southbank Centre's 60th anniversary celebration of the 1951 Festival of Britain. The celebration will feature various cultural and creative events and runs from April 22 until September 4, 2011 at London's Southbank Centre. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Women sunbath as Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa drives past during the third practice session at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo on May 25, 2013 ahead of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix. (Photo by Alexander Klein/AFP Photo)

Model Kendall Jenner attends the “120 Battements Par Minutes (120 Beats Per Minute)” screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.