Former Miss South Africa and Miss Universe, Demi-Leigh Tebow, recently recalled a traumatic hijacking incident that she endured during her reign as Miss SA, adding that the resilience that South Africa has taught her has partly inspired her recent workshops in the US.
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In conversation with podcaster Karena Dawn, Demi-Leigh – an entrepreneur, philanthropist and motivational speaker – opened up about a traumatic hijacking incident that she experienced whilst still living in South Africa in 2017 – the year she was crowned as Miss South Africa.
The incident occurred during peak hour traffic in broad daylight on a Wednesday afternoon. Demi recalls:
“I was on my way to a Miss South Africa event one Wednesday afternoon, in broad daylight, in peak hour traffic, at 5:30 pm. I was all dressed up on the way to an event – I was Miss South Africa at the time, I had just won a couple of months ago.
I stopped at a red traffic light about to turn into a parking lot, waiting for the light to turn.”
Demi was in bumper-to-bumper traffic on her way to an event when her awareness shifted to a group of men who had begun to approach her vehicle.
“The next moment, I see these men approaching me, and I have a bad feeling. I keep hoping and praying this is going to be fine…but deep down I know, my instinct is telling me that something is not right, this is not going to be good.”
Demi-Leigh then recalls looking forward to find one of the men on her left-hand side splayed over the windscreen, pointing a gun at her head. On her right-hand side, a man knocks persistently at her window.
Tebow recalls having two options – she could run, or she could fight. She chose the former.
“I immediately decided to surrender and to get out of the vehicle to get away. The moment I try running away, the man to my right searches me for personal belongings, then grabs me and tries to push me back into the vehicle.”
“I decided I’m not going to comply. I might get shot, but I can try and find my way out of this.”
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Recalling a self-defense technique she had learned from a workshop she attended in the past, Demi-Leigh chose to fight back.
“[The] workshop that I attended taught us one move: that was how to punch someone in their throat. I thought, if there’s ever a time I’m going to use that skill, it’s going to be now. I punched him as hard as I could in the throat. By no means did I hurt or disable him, but I startled him enough to buy a small window of opportunity to get out and to run away, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Afraid for her life, Demi-Leigh began to knock at the windows of the surrounding cars stuck in peak hour traffic, pleading to be helped to safety. However, she was denied, turned away or ignored at every knock for help. Tebow says:
“I was running up that avenue, in broad daylight at 5:30 pm in the afternoon, knocking on window after window after window, and nobody would stop to help me. Some windows were open, they could hear me…I’ll never forget this one woman’s face. She had her window open and I said ‘Hey! I’ve been car-jacked, please can you help me, the guys are literally right there, please will you get me to safety?” She just shooed me away and rolled up her window.”
Thankfully, Tebow eventually made it out of the scenario safely, but not without a significant deal of trauma to work through.
After going to counselling and processing what had happened to her, Demi-Leigh says that she decided that she never would never be the one to turn a blind eye to someone in need of help.
“It’s one thing when we don’t know, it’s another thing when we know and decide to look away.”
This incident, according to an article published by SA People, is what partly inspired the former Miss South Africa and Miss Universe to begin hosting her confidence boosting workshops called Unbreakable, which include mental and physical tips to empower women in all kinds of scenarios.
Tebow, who now lives in Florida with her sports-star husband, says that even though the US does not necessarily struggle with the same crimes as we do in South Africa, she still wants to empower her community of women to learn how to stand up for themselves in times of need.
“Growing up in SA, it’s always been something that’s kind of top of mind – to look out for myself, to have my own back, to be aware, to be cognisant of my surroundings.”
Tebow has began hosting her live confidence boosting workshops in the US called Unbreakable, which includes keynote speakers, panel discussions and self-defense demonstrations to help empower other women in all kinds situations.
Read more about Unbreakable here.
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Feature Image: Instagram / @demitebow
