Ballerina beats off hijacker
2008-07-27 23:11
Port Elizabeth - More accustomed to pirouettes than punches, a local ballerina Pasqual Burger, 17, had to set all thoughts of graceful movement aside to help a friend.
She helped to prevent hijackers from getting away with the car of a fellow dancer, Beathe Barnard, on Friday.
Two armed men attacked Barnard when she got to her car in the parking lot behind the ballet studio in Mount Pleasant after ballet practice.
When Burger heard Barnard screaming, she and other members of the troupe ran outside.
'Threw me to the ground'
"They (the hijackers) were already in the car and my friend was sitting between them.
"They were trying to keep her silent by holding a hand over her mouth."
It was then that Burger, who has been training as a ballerina for 14 years, made her move.
"I yanked the man from behind the steering wheel.
"When he was out of the car, he threw me to the ground.
"I jumped up and grabbed him again - I just didn't want him to get into that car again."
During the fighting Barnard managed to get out of the car, but the attacker managed to get back behind the steering wheel.
He was struggling to get the engine started when Burger grabbed him again and pulled him out of the car once more.
An Atlas security guard who was driving past saw the fight and stopped.
Regarded as heroine
"He (the guard) managed to subdue the suspect I was struggling with and tied his hands with a piece of rope that one of the bystanders gave him," Burger said.
The other attacker escaped.
Burger is now regarded as a heroine by her fellow ballet dancers.
However, she said on Sunday that she now struggled to sleep.
"I didn't really take a decision to help Beathe ... it just came automatically."