Emotional moment domestic abuse victim thanks Patrick Stewart for 'saving her life' as he hugs her at conference

Actor tells Star Trek fan 'You're safe now' at emotional Q&A session

Star tells Comicpalooza crowd of campaign to end violence against women

Star Trek fans were left awestruck at the weekend when their hero, Sir Patrick Stewart, hugged a young woman after she thanked him for helping her deal with domestic abuse.



After the British actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, told sci-fi fans in Texas about his campaign to end violence against women, Heather Skye revealed how his work had helped her cope with abuse.



Sir Patrick, who was one of the guests at Comicpalooza in Houston, responded by hugging the young woman and telling her 'You're safe now'.

Watch the moment below



Support: Sir Patrick hugs Heather Skye after she thanked him for helping her come to terms with abuse

On her Tumblr site, LemonSweetie, Miss Skye told her followers about the nervous energy she felt before being handed a microphone so she could thank Sir Patrick for a speech he had given for Amnesty International on violence against women, that had helped 'start my healing process'.

'After seeing Patrick talk so personally about it I finally was able to correctly call it abuse,' she wrote. 'I didn’t feel guilty or disgusting anymore. I finally didn’t feel responsible for the abuse that was put upon me.'

After the Star Trek fan asked Sir Patrick what he was most proud of, the actor told the audience about how he works with Refuge, a safe house charity for women and children, after not being able to protect his mother from abuse at home.

'I do what I do in my mother’s name because I couldn’t help her then. Now I can,' Sir Patrick said.



He added that he had recently discovered his father had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Second World War.



This has prompted him to start work, in his father's name, with the organization Combat Stress, which helps soldiers suffering from the same condition.

Campaign: Sir Patrick Stewart with former child soldier China Keitetsi, campaigns to end violence

Star role: Heather Skye was hugged by Sir Patrick after asking him about his campaign against violence

Before taking the next question, Sir Patrick asked Miss Skye: My dear are you okay?” which lead to the moderator asking if she wanted her hug.



On her Tumblr site, Miss Skye says: 'Sir Patrick didn’t even hesitate, he smiled, hopped off the stage and came over to embrace me in a hug. Which he held me there for a long while. He told me “You never have to go through that again, you’re safe now".'

Sir Patrick has spoken previously about the violence in his childhood home. He said the violence was so bad that his mother Gladys would often be left 'bleeding on the floor' after his father Alf came home drunk.

The 72-year-old said the stage became a 'refuge' from his home and he felt safer acting than he did in his own house.

He has since campaigned to end violence against women, working with charities such as Refuge, which offers a safe house for those escaping a violent relationship.



Mission: Sir Patrick Stewart, who plays Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: First Contact, met fans at Comicpalooza

The speech to Amnesty International, which his fan Miss Skye had watched, was part of the charity's Stop Violence Against Women campaign.



He told the organization: 'As a child witnessing these events, one cannot help somehow feeling responsible for the pain and screaming and the misery. It is deeply confusing, and these confusions are not things which are easily disposed of in adult life.'

The actor, who also played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films told the sci-fi fans gathered in Texas that he had recently taken part in the United Nations' Million Man Pledge.