The brave woman who filmed as she fought off a knifeman who attacked her as she meditated alone during the sunrise on a quiet beach has shared the footage to warn other women.
Fernanda F., who preferred not to disclose her full name, told Newsflash the incident happened at around 4:45am while she was recording the early morning scene on a beach in Itapema, a popular coastal city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, on 11th December.
The TikTok video shows Fernanda sitting on a beach mat with a pink coffee cup, gently humming as she positions her phone to record the horizon.
Moments later, a man who is not fully visible in the frame approaches her from behind and grabs her shoulders.
Fernanda told Newsflash: “He touched my shoulders, and since I know many people there, I thought it was someone exercising who touched me to say ‘hi’.”
But she said she instantly realized something was wrong when she turned and saw the blade.
Fernanda said when she saw the knife, she grabbed his wrists and stood up while holding him tightly to stop him using the weapon.
She can be heard screaming to raise the alarm as the pair grapple, with the attacker trying to pull free.
A brief physical struggle followed, during which she continued to resist and shout for help.
The man eventually broke free and fled the scene on a bicycle, escaping along the beachfront.
Fernanda said she chased him on impulse for a short distance, but could not catch him and returned to the beach moments later.
Despite being shaken, she said she then warned another woman who was walking alone along the shoreline about what had just happened.
Fernanda said: “I had to defend myself. That’s what I thought. I think the need for self-defense is part of human nature. I think it was the most adrenaline-pumping episode I’ve ever had in my life.”
After leaving the beach, she contacted a friend who alerted the Municipal Guard, and she later filed a police report that same afternoon.
Fernanda said she was not injured during the confrontation, and she does not know whether the approach was an attempted robbery or something more serious.
She said: “As decent people go out every day, only do people with bad intentions. I can say that I was lucky, literally.
“I reacted in a way that meant I wasn’t going to let myself be attacked, and that I was strong. He went out intending to do harm to someone.
“We need to understand that we are vulnerable in any situation.”
Police said the suspect has not been identified and the incident is being investigated.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: newsX
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