Neck collar saves woman as robber strangles her in sleep

Lorraine Craig, 72, has a problem with her neck and often sleeps in her lounge with a neck collar on, reports the South Coast Sun.

In the early hours of Sunday morning that collar saved her life as she woke up with an intruder trying to strangle her in the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

The suspect had gained entry to the house by smashing a large, well-lit window in the front of the house at about 3.30am.

“I woke up with his hands around my throat,” said Craig.

“I managed to kick him off while he was threatening to kill me. He asked if I was alone. When I replied my partner James Conradie (65) was asleep in the room, he went with me to wake him up.”

The man took five cellphones, four watches and money from James. He demanded guns, but the couple replied they did not have any.

Conradie managed to get him out of the house and punched him in the face before he jumped over the fence and made his escape.

“He kept on calling out to someone to come and kill us, but I got the feeling he was alone, and fortunately he wasn’t armed,” said Craig.

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A later inspection of their premises revealed he had first tried to gain entry through a bathroom window.

“If I didn’t have my collar on, he would have killed me,” said Craig.

Another unpleasant experience was when she called the police for help.

“The first time I called, the woman could not speak English, and she could not understand me. I waited for about 30 minutes and then called again.”

This time she was more fortunate, and the police arrived within 10 minutes. However, by 1pm on Monday, the police had still not arrived to take fingerprints at her premises.

– Caxton News Service

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