'I think I've been shot'

[Necuno]

'I think I've been shot'

A 20-year-old Joburg woman is being treated for severe head injuries after a smash-and-grabber threw a brick through the window of the car she was travelling in.

The incident occurred during the early hours of Sunday morning as Ashleigh Knowles and her friend, Ashley Ball, made their way home from a farewell party in Cresta.

And had it not been for the bravery of her 18-year-old friend, Ashley, who had the presence of mind to fight off the attacker, her injuries could have been worse, doctors have told her family.

It all happened at about 2.30am as the pair were heading home to Lonehill, north of Joburg.




As they approached the intersection of William Nicol Drive and Uranium Road, Ashley, who was driving, slowed down when all of a sudden the passenger window shattered. "It was a loud bang and sounded like a gunshot," Ashley said on Tuesday.

"I immediately pushed Ashleigh's head forward when out of nowhere this guy threw himself into the car and began feeling around the gear levers," she said.

Ashley, who only passed her driving test on Tuesday, said the adrenalin in her body kicked in. "I grabbed him by the back of his neck and began punching him in the face as hard as I could. I hit him a few times. Then while he was still in the car I put my foot down hard on the accelerator and pulled off. I saw his head hit the open part of the door and he fell back. Thank God I did not stall the car," she said.

As they were pulling away, Ashley said she noticed her friend's shirt was covered in blood.

"Ashleigh's eyes rolled into the back of her head and then she said 'I think I've been shot'. I just panicked and drove towards the first set of lights I saw which was at the Indaba Hotel. There were four or five cars pulling out and we asked them for help, but the people in the cars just drove off, telling us they were on their way home," she said.

Realising that her best friend's home was less than 1km away, they drove towards it from where Ashleigh's mother, Sally Knowles, rushed her to Life Fourways Hospital. Ashley injured her right hand from the punches she threw at their attacker.

It was only the next day when Ashley was cleaning the car that she discovered a brick, covered in cement at the back seat of the car.

Sally Knowles said doctors had to use 11 staples to stitch the back of Ashleigh's head.

"They discharged her the same night but on Monday she took a turn for the worst and the doctor admitted her into the ICU where she is being treated for severe concussion. They are just keeping her there for observation and will transfer her into the general ward in a day or two," she said.

Doctors told Knowles that had it not been for Ashley who pushed her friend's head forward at the time of the attack, the brick would have hit Ashleigh along her temple and caused a more serious injury.

"I am just angry by what has happened. The police should be doing much more along that route as it is very unsafe. I am just very grateful for what Ashley did; she is a real hero," Knowles said.

Douglasdale police spokesperson, Captain Douglas Prollip said police were stepping up patrols in the area.

great for her friend to KO the bastard.....

 

[Guest 20221009]

They should have run him over a couple of times..nasty bastard

 

[Albereth]

This is terrible indeed, particularly as we've had the murder on the N14 just yesterday.

I don't want to sound ungrateful for the stellar work that some police officials do but there was a spokesman on 702 this morning commenting on the N14 incident.

He starts off by saying that if a motorist runs out of petrol they will prosecute him. Oh, and if you do breakdown then call 10111 and they will try and send a car as quickly as possible. He had another comment about driving to the nearest service station.

How do you drive a broken down car? And just how many service stations do they think there are? And fuel gauges can be faulty so running out isn't an impossibility - in fact show me a single person who deliberately runs out of fuel.

And he mentioned that they have had a campaign advising the local community about the crime hot spot. What use is that? People who use highways don't necessarily live in the area - they are usually transitting. Great big signs should be posted along the highway warning of the crime. It would be in keeping with our roads policy of telling you that there are potholes and then not having to bother repairing them. Crime ahead - now we don't need to patrol.

Yeah - big tough police guys arresting people for stopping on the highway. Why don't they patrol and pick up any pedestrians? Keep on doing that and pretty soon word will get out that being on foot is going to get you locked up.

And at the risk of making an eyesore worse - remove all vegetation from the sides of the roads. So what if a traffis has nowhere to hide with his camera. We don't want them hiding - sort of negates visible policing.

 

[Harv182]

remove all vegetation from the sides of the roads.

Ja, but what about the goats?

 

[Flanders]

remove all vegetation from the sides of the roads.

Ja, but what about the goats?

HAHA!

Seriously though, this is ridiculous. Punishing the innocent for being innocent and in distress!? How about some ****ing consequences for being a criminal. That would be a start.

I went to the Vaal from JHB recently for the first time in a while and noticed there's a stretch on the highway near Grasmere where every 500m you see these signs reading "! HAZARDOUS OBJECTS !" Yes, like logs and boulders placed in the road. Squatter camps aplenty! Makes me cringe to think of driving it at night.

 

[saffakanera]

This country if $*%&ed up.