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At the age of 15 Sabrina Cohen-Hatton was living on the streets in Newport .

Barely surviving and selling the Big Issue to try and make some money, the teenager felt helpless.

By the time she was 17 she had already been to seven funerals of people she knew that had died on the streets and had been attacked.

Now aged 36 Sabrina is a published author, mum-of-one, qualified with a doctorate and is one of the top fire fighters in the country.

Despite experiencing homelessness and little support as a young teenager, Sabrina managed to escape life on streets through selling the Big Issue, saving up to rent a flat in the Valleys and joined up to the fire service.

Sabrina has only recently revealed her life on the streets for two years, which she refers to as "another life", in her recently published book, The Heat of the Moment, that looks back on her life and career.

(Image: Matt Smith/Penguin Books/PA Wire)

Sabrina, from Cardiff , said: "It was pretty unpleasant. But equally there are things that came out of that time that were positive.

"One of those things that I talk about in the book is about how that life shaped what came later.

"When I did my PhD I worked relentlessly and I think it was one of those things that really helped me.

"Because I had lived that other life, I knew how hard life could be and how I'd been knocked down over and over again.

"I knew that no matter how difficult my life was it was not as hard and that life.

"It gave me that grit and determination. It's made me really respect everyone."

Determined to make as much money as possible and get off the streets, Sabrina decided to take her business elsewhere in the hope of more trade.

With several other Big Issue vendors in Newport, Sabrina thought it best to avoid the competition and travel to Monmouth - not a quick trip.

With long days from 6am until 7pm, Sabrina would make the long journey to sell the Big Issue.

After saving enough money she was able to get a "very cheap" flat in the Valleys and begin to start her new life.

She said: "It was really hard. It took me a few attempts to get off the streets. It's not as easy as just getting a roof over your head. I did end up in a room in a hostel and I got badly beaten by one of the guys that was staying there."

Writing in her book, The Heat of the Moment, Sabrina describes how a "fascist" attacked her when she was 16. She writes that he he beat her and held a burning cigarette on her arm while shouting anti-semitic abuse.

(Image: Publicity Picture)

Before writing the book, Sabrina said her past was something she rarely shared.

Sabrina said: "Looking back it's funny, I spent a long time trying to put a lot of it behind me.

"When I broke out of it it was important to almost become someone else, so that people didn't have any preconceptions.

"I spent a long time trying to forget about it. It was terrifying sharing it."

Sabrina is now an ambassador for the Big Issue, and wants others who maybe in a similar situation to know that their circumstances do not need to define them.

Before living on the streets Sabrina had never thought of joining the fire service.

She said: "The reason the fire service appealed to me because I had spent time on the streets living my worst possible day, and in the fire service you are extremely privileged because you are helping others when they are having their worst possible day.

"It was through being homeless that made me look at how I could help other people."

At the age of 18 she joined the fire service in Risca, becoming the first ever female fire fighter at the station and in the division.

(Image: Handout/Penguin Random House)

Sabrina said: "It was tough but it was so worthwhile. One of the things I'm really passionate about is changing people's ideas about what a firefighter should be.

"It was male dominated then and it is now."

Sabrina, who said there are more chief fire officers in the UK called Chris than female chief fire officers, wants people to know that being good at the role is not determined by gender.

Writing for Penguin Publishers, Sabrina said: "What are you imagining?

"A man? Strong? Handsome and heroic?

"The reality is starkly different. I’ve seen more firefighters who look more like Ed Balls than Tom Hardy."

Now Sabrina is deputy chief of Surrey fire brigade and is one of the highest ranking female fire fighters in the UK.

Before writing her book Sabrina published a groundbreaking study to help keep firefighters safe.

It all came from when a call came in that a fellow firefighter had been incredibly badly burnt and Sabrina knew it was a one in four chance it was her fiancé.

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Sabrina spent the longest four minutes and 37 seconds of her life driving to the scene, in agony not knowing if it was him.

When she arrived her now-husband wasn’t the one injured, prompting feelings of guilt and relief – and marked the moment when Sabrina decided to begin her PhD at Cardiff University .

Her research tried to get into firefighters’ heads – finding out what they are thinking, how they respond, and how they behave when asked to run into a situation most would run from.

Her latest work, The Heat of the Moment, is part memoir and again looks at how the brain works under pressure and what lessons can be learnt.

It includes a number of incidents from her own career and aims to show the human side of firefighters.

Sabrina said: "The book tries to unpack what happens during an incident. It also shows people the human side of firefighters, that we are not just people that sweep in like heroes and save the day."

The Heat Of The Moment, by Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, is published by Doubleday and priced at £14.99.