Rockland woman saves herself and gives us a lesson in self-defense

I just wanted to give a shout out to the courageous young woman who fought off an alleged abductor in Rockland this week. Because of her courageous actions and the observant, quick-thinking of a Rockland police officer, the accused perpetrator has been caught, and the victim, though assaulted, survived and is her own hero.

Stock photo

Stock photo

More than just her own hero, she’s an example for all of us, and her version of events should be required reading for people, young and old, but especially women and girls who are unsure about self-defense.

Everything this young woman reports doing was like textbook self-defense, from what I know. She said she saw his car approach and stop, which means she was being vigilant as she walked home from work and saw her accused attacker approaching.

She made a scene by screaming, which was the right thing to do even if there was no one around to hear her at that moment. Then she proceeded to kick butt — even using a head butt and biting to try to get away and these techniques almost worked. The head butt and biting are great go-to moves — especially if you can land the hit or the bite on someone’s nose or other sensitive spots on the human body. 

That head butt must have taken the alleged perpetrator by surprise!

She reports that her accused abductor punched her and choked her unconscious, and when she came to in his car — bless her — instead of being overcome by fear, she rallied, called 911, and kicked butt again. She fought him until the car crashed, which is yet another good move to try to survive an abduction.

All this young woman’s butt-kicking makes me wonder was she raised by someone who taught her that it was okay for a woman to fight viciously when needed? Did she come to this level of self-defense understanding the hard way? Did she take a class?

However it is that she came to know how to take care of herself, good for her for acting on that knowledge the other night!! It’s awesome to read a story that ends this way, and a real life story to top it off. So much of our culture is about young women being sexualized and perceived as the weaker sex.

American girls are bombarded with pressures about femininity from the the Barbie doll image to the  countless movie and television scenes where the weak woman is overpowered by the predator man. But not this time. This time the story goes:  young woman fights alleged abductor ferociously and relentlessly and lives to talk about it.

Three cheers for her and Rockland Police Sgt. Matthew Lindahl,  and best wishes to her as she heals from this traumatic incident!

Patricia Callahan

About Patricia Callahan

Trish is a writer who lives in Augusta. She has worked professionally in education and social services.