48 HOURS LIVE TO TELL --DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! - Adaptive, Practical, Effective, Survival Self-defense: Improvise with unique groundfighting, knife, gun, stick, cane and empty hand combat methods

Don't Let This Happen to You...

48 HOURS' TV SERIES "LIVE TO TELL"

Knowing some simple self defense strategies
could prevent a nightmare...

On the hit show 48 HOURS (broadcast on 2/21/09) the real-life horror story is told of a young couple abducted in broad daylight. In this particular episode entitled "River's Edge," (the third story in the video clip viewer shown below) a young man and woman were walking together on their 2nd date when they were offered a ride by a man in a red pickup. They politely refused and the truck drove past. What happened next was a nightmare that took years to recover from. The truck turned around, pulled up alongside them and the same man jumped out with a gun and ordered them to get inside.

Frozen with fear, the young couple complied. The woman was subsequently raped while the boyfriend was in the back of the truck. They were then driven miles while the psychopath looked for a place to kill them both. He pulled up to a river and they were ordered out. Drunk and excited, the man fired his pistol repeatedly into the river yelling "what am I going to do with you? You've seen my face!" At no point during this entire tragedy were the young couple tied up or restrained. The young man plead for their lives and offered anything in exchange for their release. Then the man shot each of them in the head.

They recovered consciousness while floating down the river and had the sense to play dead until eventually they were pulled from the water by a hunter. The young man had been heroic in keeping the woman from drowning even though he had suffered near-critical wounds. Thankfully, they both survived and spent many years in recovery. They now lead full lives and are both married (to other people).

Although no one can predict exactly how the chaos of real violence will play out, the point we want to make with this article is that this horrific tragedy just might have been prevented with just a little self-defense knowledge:

1. AWARENESS
As soon as the truck turned around they should have immediately been on red alert and prepared to run. Anyone who offers a ride unsolicited in a deserted area is immediately suspect.

2. WHAT RHYMES WITH GUN? RUN!
No matter where you are, inside, outside, city street or country lane, the instant you see either gun metal or a knife, run like your life depends on it...because it does. If you are not disabled, infirm, trapped or restrained, you should leave skid marks on the ground. Don't even wait for them to say anything. Police statistics show that the odds of being shot are small because a) the original "plan" has been disrupted b) gunfire attracts attention and c) the odds of you being hit are small and d) the odds of being hit with a lethal shot are even smaller. Even when shot (in non-lethal areas) the human body under adrenaline can be unbelievably resilient. As civilized human beings we are conditioned to be polite and politically correct. The psychopathic criminal knows this. Do what any wild animal does and bolt at the first inkling of danger and not after. Fear can also immobilize you and the psychopathic criminal knows this also and relies on it.

3. DO NOT GO TO CRIME SCENE #2
If somehow you are forced into the vehicle then do whatever you have to do to crash the vehicle. Wait until you are doing at least 25 mph and then rip out his eyes, bite his throat, scratch, hit and punch his testicles and grab the steering wheel. Police statistics show that abductors lose interest in you fast in a car accident and the injuries you might incur are far less than what he will inflict upon you should you arrive at his chosen destination.

4. DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH A MUGGING
If you are restrained and the criminal demands money, give it to him. All of it, and quickly and politely. However, if he wants to then take you somewhere, police statistics show that if you make your stand right there, you have a better chance of surviving than if you're taken to crime scene #2.

There is much more to know about self-defense awareness but just knowing the above can and has saved the lives of many.

SEE ALSO:
-- 10 BEST SELF-DEFENSE AWARENESS TIPS