Demi-Leigh Tebow, a former Miss Universe and the stunning wife of Christian MLB/NFL player Tim Tebow, hails from South Africa. In a candid personal video, Demi-Leigh Tebow shared the harrowing tale of how she survived an attempted kidnapping by five armed men in 2017.
Fighting human trafficking is a key mission of the Tim Tebow Foundation. A cause the couple are both passionate about.
Demi-Leigh, 26, told her story while launching a fundraiser to help female victims of human trafficking.
The South Africa-native explained that this issue is close to her heart because of her own experience nearly being abducted.
“I think one of the reasons I’m so passionate about giving women all over the world a voice, and the opportunity to reach out to help, is because I have lived with that fear,” Demi-Leigh said.
“I never want to victimize myself, but I pray my story serves as a reminder of the countless individuals in need around the world, people who need someone to just step up. This is my story.”
Just one month after winning the Miss South Africa title, Demi-Leigh was sitting in her brand new car that was sponsored by the pageant wearing fancy clothing when the unthinkable happened.
“I looked to my right, and I saw I’m surrounded by five armed men. I didn’t know how that could end up [happening] in that moment but I knew that I had to get away,” she recalled.
Demi-Leigh had a quickly reality check, “I knew that my materialistic things were just not worth my life. I didn’t know exactly what they wanted from me, but I knew it wasn’t good.”
That’s when the situation escalated.
“I put up my hands, I surrendered, I gave them everything they needed, but the moment I tried running away the guy on my side of the car grabbed me and he pulled me and he pushed me back into the car yelling at me, ‘Get in, you’re going with us,'” Demi-Leigh continued.
“And at that moment, I said, ‘No I’m not, I’m not going with you. I don’t care if you shoot me, if you kill me, but I’m not going with you.”
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Demi-Leigh fought back with everything she had, shocking one of her wannabe abductors by punching him as hard as she could in the throat. This quick-thinking gave her the window of opportunity to run away and scream for help.
“In my 6-inch heels, I ran up a big avenue,” she said. “I ran into traffic and tried getting away, looking over my shoulder not knowing [if] I’m being shot in the back. You know what, that’s not the worst part of the story. As I ran up that avenue I knocked on about 30/40 car windows. Do you know how many cars stopped for me? Not one!”
Though she was terrified, Demi-Leigh “kept running”. The young woman was feverishly “knocking on car windows” trying to find anyone who would help her.
“I probably ended up at the next traffic light when I saw a small, old little car pull over to the side of the road with a young girl telling me, ‘Get in,'” she recalled.
“She let me into her car and she took me to safety. If it wasn’t for that young girl who was 19 years old at the time. I don’t know what would have happened. I don’t know if those men would have followed me, grabbed me, who knows, but I try not to think about that,” Demi-Leigh added. “I’m so grateful for that young courageous woman who risked her own safety to be a helping hand to me, and I will ever be grateful to her.”
In the end, Demi-Leigh has a message for others who find themselves being bystanders in this kind of situation.
“Don’t be that person that shoves someone away, that rolls up your car window when someone is begging you for help,” she said. “Be that person that leans over and opens up your car door and lets that person in, and lead them to safety.”
The Tim Tebow Foundation has spent the past twelve years fighting against sex slavery.
As citizens we should be grateful to Tim and Demi-Leigh Tebow for their dedication to the fight against human trafficking.
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