A frightening experience

So, I finally get to blog and it`s because I`m sick in bed with Bronchitis (no Kevin, not swine flu, just bronchitis). I was booked off for the last 2 days but have been at work most of the time. However, at lunch time today I finally succumbed and came home to get into bed.

The last few days have been interesting, to say the least. Well firstly, we have been looking after Hayley`s sisters kids for the last week. Lindsay and Mark are in Britain with my in-laws. It`s been hard work but truth be told not as hard as I thought it was gonna be. Ok, Hayley gets up at night, I`m not built for that just yet.

I have also spent the last 2 nights at home cos I don`t want the kids to contract my illness. That would just complicate things immensely!

Yesterday I had a meeting in Isando (about 15km`s from home) at 09:00, so I used the opportunity to sleep in a bit and save myself from going out into the biting cold early in the morning. My chest needs all the protection it can get at the moment.

So I had just left home when my phone rang and it was Hayley. She was in a complete state and told me that someone had attacked Sarah (the live in nanny) at Lindsay`s house. I was literally 200 metres from there and immediately turned into their road. The road was full of police cars and armed response vehicles. I jumped out and found Sarah and little Adam standing in front the house surrounded by police.

It transpired that a guy had attacked Sarah when she was locking the security gate by the kitchen. He was armed with a knife. Sarah immediately fought back and grabbed the knife from him (she suffered a small cut on her palm). He then forced his way in and hit Sarah. She hit him back and kept fighting. Adam was sleeping in his room but woke up from the commotion and started screaming. Sarah then went to the front door and opened it while fighting off the attacker. She managed to get out and ran into the street screaming. As luck would have it a policeman was waiting at the traffic lights about 100 metres away. He immediately came to her assistance.

By this time the attacker had disappeared. The police were frantically searching for him. We all went inside the house and tried to calm Sarah down. She was so strong and brave. What a woman!

I got there probably 5 minutes after the attack. There were policemen and armed response guys running everywhere looking for the attacker. Hayley arrived about half an hour later. We all sat in the house. The police and armed response guys were combing the suburb. One of the policemen came back. He explained that the attackers usually find a place to hide and that they lay low for a few hours before running away. We then walked into the backyard and he went to have a look at Sarah`s room. I decided to go check the other side of the house. I looked behind trees and bushes and under sails laying around. The wendy house had been checked already but I opened the door and looked inside. It is FULL of stuff and I saw nothing untowards. Then a shoe caught my eye and I saw it had a foot in!!!! I got the fright of my life but kept calm and even whispered "nope, nothing here". I walked away slowly. As soon as I rounded the corner I ran and gestured at the cop that I had found the attacker. The cop called reinforcements and they arrested him. Well, not that easy cos he fought back and it took teargas to "settle" him down.

The police were awesome, absolutely awesome. They went above and beyond the call of duty and the way they acted really put my faith back into the SAP. Well done guys. They also confirmed that the attacker would not get bail and that it was pretty much an open and shut case. Put him away for a very long time. Scumbag.

All I can say is thank the Lord that nobody got hurt and that we caught the guy. It is so scary when something like that happens to you or to somebody close to you. What would have happened if the cops left and he came out later with only Hayley and Sarah there? I shudder to think.

It`s a horrible thing that happened and I don`t wish it upon anybody. I am thankful though that we were not left with "if only`s" or "I wish we had". We have learned valuable lessons and will most certainly use it in future AND nobody got hurt in the process. Praise God.