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Sometimes you could be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could make fast decisions wisely to be safe or you could be very unlucky and get hurt or even lose your life.
A lot of people think that nothing would or could happen to them, either because they build a good karma, or because they believe that there is always good energy around them. Others think that nothing would happen to them because they never do anything to anybody.
The reality is that anything could happen to anybody in any place at any moment.
What I believe is that our decisions can influence our future.
I have had a lot of difficult situations in life, moments when I had only few seconds to decide what to do in order to avoid the worst. In this post I would like to share an experience I had, that could also help others in case it happens.
Friday night, in Panama City, a lot of people go out to the Casco Antiguo area or the Old City, the most beautiful area of the city that still preserve the colonial architecture. A lot of people go there since it has nice restaurants and bars, unfortunately is very close to unsafe areas with dark alleys where the only way for some people to survive is the sale of drugs or look for someone to assault.
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I ended up with my group of friends in a nice bar where I met a young woman from Germany. We were dancing and drinking, having fun and enjoying silly conversations. It was the perfect party night for a single young man of 26 years of age.
At some point we went out of the bar to nearest park to light a cigarette. We realized how drunk we were after we sat down on one of the benches, laughing and talking about things I barely remember.
After we were done with our nicotine break, I asked her to go back to the party.
She said no!, she wanted to keep walking. Somehow I knew it was not a good idea, it was not the right area nor the time to “go for a walk”.
She wanted to go towards one of the dark alleys. I realized how drunk she was when after telling her it’s not safe, she said: “Are you scared? I will go by myself then.”
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I let her go, turn myself towards the bar where my crew was. When I turned my head back to look at her, the shade of the building made it difficult for me to see her.
In that moment I thought: ”What if something bad happens to her?” “I would have never felt ok about it since I had the opportunity to insist.”
So I made the decision to go after her.
When I finally reached her, it was to late.
I counted at least 5 guys. I did not have the time to do anything when right away I saw that revolver pointed at me.
Everything happened so fast, I stayed calm. The somewhat altered state of consciousness due the alcohol was gone. A second dude tried to put his hands in my pocket to reach my wallet, it was difficult to reach for him, they were very nervous, I could see how the hand that was holding the gun at me was shaking.
The other three tried to grab her purse, she was holding it tight. They threw her on the ground, took a bottle, broke it and while she was being dragged, one of them started to slashed her legs.
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Either she was completely drunk or incredibly stupid!
There is not much I could do then just talk to the guy and tell him:
“You see all that blood?”
”There is people looking from far man, you have the purse, she is hurt, what else do you need?”
”What do you think will happen after?”
”Just go, call it a night.”
He put away his gun down, and as soon as he started to run, the rest of his crew ran after him.
I had to bride carry her, the adrenaline helped me to run those 2 blocks back to the bar. One of my friends helped me call the police. One of the police cars helped me take her to the hospital.
The nervous shock plus the 25 stitches on one of her legs, and 13 stitches on one of her arms, changed her traveling experience completely.
I don't even want to imagine what else could have happened to her,
We both made a few mistakes that night. Although not all the experiences are the same, you could be in an elevator or walking down the street completely sober and still, have someone pointing a gun at you to steal from you.
Always stay calm, always give everything they ask you. You have to cooperate, remember the one holding the gun is more nervous and could be even also more scared.
In my situation, I kept calm, but I also tried to persuade him with my talk. I decided to take my chances. I mean what else I had left? That shaking hand could have pulled that trigger in any moment. The faster he decided to leave, the better so that is why I “told” him to go away.
I will always advice to everyone to take self defense courses. Not to create a “hero”, but to help build self confidence in a psychological way, which is for me an important key in these type of situations.
Party hard, but party safe!