WATCH: Durban woman speaks after video of her driving into robber goes viral

A woman who made headlines this week after she drove into one of the men who stole her handbag from her car, says she just wanted her items back.

Sandy-Lee Ward says she was in the bank at a mall in The Bluff, Durban, just before the men targeted her.

According to her, the criminals initially wanted to take her car, but weren’t able to pull her out of the vehicle.

“They were trying to get my safety belt off, because that is what kept me in the car,” she said in an interview with Caxton community newspaper Southlands Sun.

As the criminals struggled to pull Ward out of the car, they noticed her handbag under the seat and decided to steal that instead.

Ward said although there was no money in the bag, it contained her ID book, driver’s licence and house keys.

“My whole life was in [the bag],” she was quoted as saying.

“That is what drove me… as these guys ran… I said ‘Lord, those are my things, they’re not allowed to take my things.”

ALSO READ: WATCH: Gatvol robbery victim runs over thief

Ward drove through a security boom while giving chase. She says she was so determined to get her property back that she wasn’t even aware the boom wasn’t open.

“I put my foot down and drove right through it.”

Moments later, she had also driven into the man who took her handbag.

“I hit him so hard that my bag went flying out of his hand.”

A nearby petrol attendant picked up her bag and returned it to her.

Watch: Bluff robbery victim speaks out

South Africans shared their opinions of the incident shortly after it happened, with some praising Ward and others saying her reaction was reckless.

Ward says she’s not a hero and insists she wasn’t trying to kill the man she drove into.

“I’m a child of God. I belong to Jesus and I prayed to him the whole way.”

The robber who took Ward’s handbag was arrested shortly after being hit by her car.

Watch: Woman runs over thief in Durban

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