An Unexpected Turn

Sometimes you really are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Last Friday, I was running some errands and realised I had not eaten in 3 hours. For those with SIBO, it is important to eat frequent small meals and so I was eager to get home and make some lunch. Remembering that I was out of salmon, I decided to get off at Kilburn Park to get salmon from the M&S on the High Street. Usually, I grab all my quick food at the Tescos around the corner from my flat, but when I take the Bakerloo Line to Kensal Green, heading to the Tescos is actually going out of my way.

So, get off at Kilburn High Road, get my salmon, call my mom while checkin out, and on my way back to the bus station (because city mapper told me I could get home with the bus in 15 minutes & it was cheaper than the tube), I saw a man going quite crazy with a trash bin next to the bus stop. I remember the fight or flight response kicking in and I turned around to leave, but was so transfixed by what was happening that I stopped to see what he would do next... Thankfully, he seemed to disappear into a shop or around the corner from the bus stop, so I figured it was safe to walk up to the bus stop on Cambridge Ave. and wait for my bus which was arriving in 2 minutes.

Well, in the span of 2 minutes, the man came out and punched a woman standing across from me at a kiosk... I gasped, terrified, and the next thing I know, the guy came straight at me and took a massive punch to my shoulder. I cowered backwards into the bus that had just pulled up and screamed... he turned away and started walking back up to the High Street.

I stood there speechless with a tear coming down my cheek... my bus was about to pull up but I did not want to get on... I was still in shock. I looked across the street and saw the employees from the Job Centre all on there phones, appearing to be looking for someone. I walked up to them and asked if they had called the police on the man in the blue shirt and they said yes, then asked if I was alright. I explained that the man had punched me.

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The man is in custody and I spent 4 hours at the Met police station on Friday giving my statement. He attacked 3 women and damaged public property. I've got two green bruises now on my arm and pain inside the bicep but feel very fortunate as he could have so easily hurt the woman in front of me, and myself, so much worse.

I think this was a bit of a wake-up call to me on the importance of being aware of your surroundings. My first instinct in seeing the man come at me with his fist raised was not to defend myself... I immediately tried to avoid him and screamed when his fist made contact with my shoulder. Whether I see if I can carry pepper spray on me, or learn some self-defense moves, one thing for certain is that the world can be a beautiful, but scary place, even in the places you'd least expect it!