Kelly Heron started to black out…
Bloodied and beaten, she knew the man on top of her wasn’t going to stop his attack… and no one was coming to save her.
As she felt herself losing consciousness, her mind raced with the likely consequences of “giving up”.
Would she be raped? Killed? Left in a pile on the women’s restroom floor to be discovered hours later?
Her body and her life on the line, Kelly dug deep down inside for what little strength she had left against the larger, stronger attacker, and screamed out…
“Not Today, Motherf—er!”
Here’s How One Woman Bravely Fought Off A Bathroom Ambush – And Inspired Other Women To Fight Back…
Kelly Herron was standing in a public bathroom off a Seattle running trail when she realized she was in danger.
“As I was drying my hands, I became aware that something was wrong,” she told the news reporter.
That’s when Gary Steiner, a 40-year-old registered sex offender, attacked this 36-year-old marathon runner.
Steiner had been hiding in a bathroom stall in the ladies’ room, just waiting for a victim!
As Kelly’s back was turned, he seized the moment, lurching from his hiding place and immediately taking her to the floor of the bathroom, wailing away on her with his fists.
Kelly fought like a woman possessed.
At one point, she crawled into a bathroom stall, on her back, and tried to kick the door shut with her foot.
Steiner climbed under the stall door from the next one and began beating her in the face.
Trapped in the bathroom stall, Kelly started to feel like she was going to black out.
She knew if she lost consciousness, Steiner intended to rape her.
That’s when Kelly had what she later described as “a moment of clarity.”
She thought to herself,
“This Doesn’t HAVE To Be A Fair Fight!”
Kelly started to claw her attacker’s face…
Fighting her way clear like a demon, Kelly punched him again and again, telling herself never to give up.
Finally, she managed to escape the bathroom.
A passerby, who had a carabiner keychain, used it to lock Steiner in the bathroom until the cops arrived to arrest him.
And just like that, this lone woman had not only defeated a street ambush… but she had even managed to get her scumbag attacker CAUGHT!
Better yet, Kelly Herron’s story beautifully illustrates three tips you can use to prevent an attack by a bigger, stronger attacker – or, if you can’t avoid it, fight it off!
1. Trust Your Gut… But Don’t Let It Be Your First Warning!
Kelly’s “sixth sense” told her something was wrong when she was standing in the bathroom.
The problem with that kind of intuition is that it’s usually too little, too late!
It’s easy to assume that you’re safe – even in isolated publicly-accessible locations – because… well… you usually are, right?
But it’s this kind of overconfidence that predators count on to surprise you when you least expect it.
The answer?
“Expect the unexpected!”
You don’t have to be paranoid or walk around waiting for the boogeyman to jump out from behind every bush… but flipping your “internal script” to take simple precautions to give yourself some reaction time will go a long way – using techniques like…
… a quick glance under the stalls when you enter a bathroom…
… giving yourself a wide path when walking around the corner of a building…
… using a flashlight to scan a parking lot’s surroundings as you travel back to your vehicle…
It doesn’t take much to thwart a predator’s plans before they attack – and Kelly’s glancing look under the bathroom stall doors as she entered may have revealed Steiner’s pants and shoes, which would have looked out of place in a ladies’ room.
2. “Read” Your Battlefield Before The Fight Begins
Most attacks don’t happen in the wide-open settings that could offer you a path to escape.
They happen in the tight, confined spaces the size of a phone booth… the space between two parked cars… or, in this case, the close quarters of a public bathroom stall.
This makes it harder to maneuver to a position of balanced strength to fight back – and criminals know this.
But you can use this to your advantage as well…
Kelly turned the tables on her attacker – even if only temporary – by launching herself into one of the bathroom’s stalls, forcing Steiner to adjust his attack to the changed dynamics that Kelly controlled.
This is something you can train into your “self-protection habits” right now…
Learn to look at your surroundings (everywhere you go) with different “eyes”.
Identify positions of cover, concealment, and potential “fatal funnels” you can use to control an attacker’s movement – such as spaces between parked cars, furniture that can be used as obstacles, and doorways that can force your attacker to change their direction and attack plans.
And develop your awareness of objects in your environment that can be used as “improvised weapons of opportunity” to multiply the force of your counterattack.
3. Get In Touch With Your <Rabid> “Spirit Animal”
Let’s face it…
The odds were clearly against Kelly every step of the way.
Ambushed without warning… attacked by a practiced predator… outsized, outmatched, and (almost) outsmarted.
In describing the fight on her Instagram account and in interviews after the assault, Kelly spoke several times about the mindset she had.
She refused to give up… refused to let Steiner have his way with her… and refused to become a victim!
When things looked the worst, it wasn’t a plea for mercy that came out of her mouth…
… it was her battle cry of “Not TODAY motherf–er!” that erupted!
Kelly didn’t “fight fair”… she fought like a rabid animal!
Forget the Karate “straight-punch”… fancy spinning roundhouse kick… Judo flip over the shoulder… BJJ arm bar…
These “self-defense moves” can come in handy if you’re willing to put in the time and expense for classes.
But what really works is the dirty, sneaky, “unfair” tactics that send a clear message to your attacker that they’ve picked the wrong “victim” to mess with.
In other words, you have to abandon the concept of “self-defense”… and go on the OFFENSE!
Kelly dug into her attacker’s face as deep as her fingernails would go…
… clawed her way to gain space…
… and ultimately escaped from a situation that many women (and men!) would have been defeated by.
She quickly realized the single-most critical truth when it comes to surviving a real street attack:
When you’re attacked by a bigger, stronger attacker – an experienced predator – “fighting fair” is the fastest way to a hospital Emergency Room… or the morgue!
Kelly’s Fight Serves As An Inspiration To All Women – AND Men – That No Matter How Badly The Odds Are Against You…
The Fight Isn’t Over Until You Give Up… Or Give Out!
After Kelly’s attack, she posted the picture you see here of her stitched, scarred face.
She wasn’t looking for sympathy.
She wanted people to know that you CAN fight back against an attacker... and that mindset of survival and determination is what saved her from rape (and worse).
Now, I have to ask…
If you were attacked, from out of nowhere – and by a bigger and stronger person – would YOU know what to do?
Did you know that there’s a single move that will work for a much smaller person against a larger attacker, allowing you to practically take their head off?
Do you have what it takes to fight “UN-fairly”?
The easiest target is the eyes whether it is fingers poked into the eyes or even better a car or house key used with force behind it
Yup! The eyes are a great target Chris!
But as I said in my response to Eadric, you REALLY have to commit to doing some damage.
That’s not easy for a lot of people and just like anything else, it does require training to be able to pull it off.
Not necessarily “technique” training (though, even with eye gouges, there’s a right and wrong way to do it)… but the “mental” training to do something that brutal to another human being is typically a big obstacle that a lot of people just can’t get over, ya know?
Anyways… thanks for your comment and sharing your advice!
Always be aware of your surroundings. Carry a concealed weapon easily accessible instantly. Carry pepper spray. Know how and when to use deadly or nonlethal force . You must train with your weapons and self defense tactics. Go over mind set scenarios. Your mind cannot go where your mind has never been. So train and practice.
A friend of a friend I know would have been violated if not for the fact that she relied on the training that her father taught her. She shoved her thumbs in the eyes of her attacker. A second thing I would like to point out is that you need to ALWAYS know your surroundings. People go around these days with headphones in or looking at their phones. That is very dangerous. Sometimes I get close to people and they have no idea I am there. that is asking for trouble.
Good points Eadric!
And that’s good thinking on the part of your “friend of a friend”.
It’s actually really hard for people to do something as brutal as shoving their fingers into another person’s eye socket – even if they’re in the process of getting attacked.
We’re really not programmed to get that primal with our defensive actions, even though it’s inside of all of us.
My friend (and one of our Warrior Life networked instructors), Loren Christensen, once created a video to help people get over that kind of hesitation and he had a training partner cut a lemon in half and hold it over his eyes (with safety glasses on) while Loren dug his thumbs into each of the lemons and twisted them around.
It was really kinda funny… but also really effective for simulating the “wet, squishy” feel one could expect if it was done in real life!
Thanks for sharing!
One of the teachers, at work got a concussion from a student tjat broke out a heavy window out of a solid core door. Another teacher told me I wouldn’t believe who did that. I told her the girls name. She said how? Flying kick, she is in my karate group.
We both had reputation at group she loved the flying kick. I was never knocked out. We never fought each other mainly so I couldn’t be liable.
There is also slap grab and twist. No referees goes both ways. They honey badger does this to bigger animals.
Since you mentioned the spinning round house kick. The defense is go for the foot on the floor. If you stop that spin they collapse.use your foot. This also lowers your center of gravity.