Q&A: Have you been attacked as well as mugged and how did you get over it?
Question by desperatelyseekingfranny: Have you been attacked as well as mugged and how did you get over it?
Last weekend in London i was walking home from the tube station when someone punched me in the head from behind and i fell to the ground, next thing i knew they started punching me in the face and kicking, i was absolutely helpless. Then they tried to rip my bag off my arm and ran off with it. I got up and ran after them screaming at the top of my lungs. Two other great guys heard me from nearby and joined in to chase after him, they got very close so he threw my bag and kept running – he wasn’t caught but I got what was left of and in my bag back. I have been very badly hurt, front teeth punched in, very bruised and sore etc, and the police etc have been fantastic. But aside from all this I want to hear from anyone that has been through similar situation.
I was terrified, and I can’t stop going over the terror of it in my head, and I feel too scared to ever go out at night again.
I’m very cautious and always check behind me, and walk quickly however this guy was obviously hiding back a bit and ran up quickly.
People have said carry pepper spray and so on and all that stuff, but honestly – with the element of surprise like that theres nothing i could do. getting back on topic though – i don’t know how i will get back to normal. I don’t have a regular job as am searching at the moment (so its hard to get back into any routine) and i’ve just come over here on a working holiday from new zealand, and i’m determined to not go home over this, but i need to believe i will feel ok again. I loved london so much and am gutted some a*sshole did this. he could’ve asked me for my bag, not have to do this to me. i get so angry at people who act in these ways, people work so damn hard for their stuff and why should anyone else have the right to just help themselves and hurt you physically in the process. as you can tell i’m very very angry, scared, and don’t know how i will ever feel the same again……
it is so very awful to go to another country and have someone do this to you especially when all your friends and family are back home.
Please let me know if you have experienced something similar and if and how you got through it?
Best answer:
Answer by Lola
Something similar happened to me while I was traveling for work in Chicago, IL. I wasn’t even alone, I had just gotten off the bus with a friend. For some reason, the mugger chose to attack me. I never did get my purse back. I wasn’t as badly injured as you (I’m so sorry to hear that), but I was a bit banged up. It was upsetting as I had no ID to fly home, no phone, etc.
It took me months to get over this. It was extremely hard, but I had to get back out there, and keep doing what I was doing before, and live my life. I travel for work a lot, so this was tough, as I was traveling when I was mugged. As you do, I was always looking behind me and paranoid. I’d freeze in a dark parking garage on the way to my rental car, crying, convinced that some mugger was coming.
Eventually, it gets better. You become more comfortable again, and are able to live your life. It helped to talk about it with my friends, and if we were out somewhere and I felt scared, I told them. They were very supportive. As I said, it gets better, it just takes time. Don’t push your feelings back, deal with them as they come. It took me a few months for things to feel normal again. Things may follow a similar pattern for you, or it may be a bit different.
It wouldn’t hurt to talk to a therapist, either. It’s always beneficial to have someone to bounce things off of and to give you advice.
Best of luck to you.
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