Good
Morning PPG,
I
am a 47 year old mother of two and have a story that all women need
to hear. Prepping has many angles. Self defense should be in the top
ten; not just for strangers but people we may even know. I was
attacked in my home by a friend of my husband’s (family friend).
Yes I have a concealed weapon, yes I have training in self defense,
and yes I have a criminal justice major and special training in law
enforcement, yes to every question one would think of. HOWEVER, I am
110 pounds and was attacked by a man 240 pounds! I know everyone
say‘s “I would have dug his eyes out… blah blah blah.”. I was
choked from behind and fought and sexually assaulted. I was then
choked and passed out (praying the entire time God would protect me)
as I came to I was being drenched in lighter fluid! All I could think
of is my 5 month old baby sleeping in the next room… we were both
going to die. After he realized I came to… he picked up some video
tapes and left my house and said thank you for the tapes! I was
within a match of being set on fire. It made me realize how
vulnerable we can be, not only should we protect ourselves from
strangers but sad to say friends as well. 911 is for them to
investigate who murdered you… their not coming to save you! I live
in a very rural county and we have one officer working the county…
and three homicide detectives on call at all times, it kind of tell
its own story! Our 911 system is a high tech called ID and doesn't give the address were calling from… I know this after we had a
small fire from an electric fence and one of our pastures.
I
now carry in my home as well and have several weapons stashed around
my home. My son who is now 10 also has several weapons (knives) he
has access to in case of emergency! The illusions that we’re safe in
our home are just that. We tend to let our guard down when it comes
to people we know, #1 mistake. I don’t live paranoid, I know live
safe; I evaluate each situation and were I place people in my home
and tell no one about my stash of weapons around the home! In a shift
situation we pretty much know who our enemies are… train in your
home practice scenarios of all types of intruders including family
and friends! If we only practice for crimes that happen after a shift
situation then were forgetting one thing, we have to make it to the
shift situation. My assaulter was given 10 years probation and mental
health therapy… I realized after the attack, that I had to train
myself beyond self defense I had to train harder because of my size!
I might at 110 lbs small and 5’3 but I train like a fighter
everyday! Mentally and physically be prepared… size matters in a
fight and in a shift situation it’s going to be 10 times harder to
survive!
As
we prep the biggest threat we face is the unknown, will we be alone,
who will be with us and will we be safe with that person? These are
all the questions we have to ask ourselves, because in a SHTF
situation people are going to be thinking and acting differently. I
remember after Katrina reading about police raping and robbing women.
Well that’s the reality of when SHTF; I call it a SHIFT because it
will shift from what we know as normal to the unknown SHTF; so it’s
SHIFT SHTF!
After
my rape, I realized training would have to be different. Scenarios
are the key, when you desensitize yourself your fight or flight mode
changes; we all have the fight or flight mode so don’t kid yourself
on that one. Rape is probably one of the most devastating things that
could happen in a SHTF situation because not only are you traumatized
from the act there is pregnancy, and STDS which you could also face;
being willing to take people into your home when SHTF should be
weighted carefully.
Scenario
training is a must! When we train for specific things we tend to
react to the situation and think of the reaction it’s not a
spontaneous reaction! Train in your home, train for intruders, train
for everything! Weapons don’t always mean deadly weapons, sometimes
in certain situation you wouldn't want a lethal weapon in a hand to
hand combat; small pocket knives can also get a person off you and
give you time to get to your lethal weapon if that how you choose to
deal with the situation. But if you don’t practice then you will
not know how to react. If you would train for emergency situations
with medical preps, then make sure you prep for attack scenarios. If
you have children would you want your children to hide during an
attack, run away during an attack or help fight during the attack?
These are questions you have to ask yourself and answer because
children will freeze in a situation if not trained properly.
Training
with fire arms is great but do you want your child trying to shoot
someone attacking you? I always get a giggle when I tell people my
son is deadly with a sock with marbles in it... I promise that person
would be knocked out in a flash! So practice with non lethal weapons
also. My son always says he would shoot someone who tried to hurt
me... I really don’t want that on his hands to deal with; but the
reality is our children have to learn also. But the repercussions
will be traumatic for a child, and we must take that into
consideration. I say train train, train, be prepared as much as
possible, we can’t imagine every situation but we can desensitize
ourselves to some scenarios such as rape, home invasions and gang
situations.
I
recently saw as I am sure most of you did the woman attacked in her
home while her child sat on the couch with a pillow over her face; as
the mother was attacked and beaten by an African American man. Many
of you said to yourself “I would have ______” you fill in the
blank. Did you see the size of that guy? Did you see how easy it was
for him to brag her around and handle her like she was a doll? That’s
because he had an adrenaline rush while he was breaking the door
down, and then it probably increased when he entered the home. What
would you have done? Personally, I would have had a lethal weapon
close enough to react when he entered the home! But it’s a good
scenario to practice because obviously she was not prepared for what
happened; perhaps if she had a weapon on the stairway when he threw
her down the basement. Train people, read different situation on
robberies happen, rape happen, home invasions happen.
And
then the aftermath of a rape, while we live in a world where we can
go to therapy and try to over comes this attack; what support would
you have after a SHTF? Most people will need some sort of support! Do
you have spiritual support? Do you have books on traumatic incidents
like rape? And what about pregnancy are you prepared for that after a
rape? Most rapists are not going to stop to use a condom that’s
just the reality! STD’s what about them some are life threatening;
do you have preps for them?These are all things to think about and
talk to your loved ones about. Make sure you talk with your husband
or wife about these situations. Today prepare and practice scenarios
in which these situations could happen! I hope and pray I have helped
even if it was in a small way!
