By Shawn Smith
As shown in the Bible, what man means for evil, God uses for good.
Such is the case of the life-changing incident that compelled Demi Tebow to not be the person “to look the other way” when seeing someone in crisis.
“I stopped at the red traffic light half past five in the afternoon, broad daylight, peak hour traffic, and the next moment, I was surrounded by multiple armed men,” she recalled on “The Skinny Confidential” podcast. “And in that moment, I knew, like, get away. Your things are replaceable, but your life isn’t.”
The former Miss South Africa attempted to run away only to be grabbed by the wrist and pulled back in the car. She credits her father for teaching her how to defend herself in a situation like she saw herself in.
“I remembered, in that moment…don’t go to the second destination, because…[it] is probably not going to get better somewhere downtown, with…their friends,” Tebow said.
“[T]he second thing I remembered was the throat punch. It’s lethal. It’s accessible. You know, you can cause a lot of damage,” the former Miss Universe continued.
So in a life-saving decision, she followed her father’s advice and was able to escape.
The experience left her traumatized, and it would be about a month before she could drive again. Once she did start driving again, she went to extremes to avoid rush hour traffic out of fear of being attacked again, even if it meant waking up at four in the morning just to go to the gym.
“I realized, gosh, I can’t keep living this way. I have to really work on healing. And one of the therapies that I ended up doing was EMDR therapy, and I highly advocate for that, especially in traumatic situations,” the model and author said.
The most traumatic part of the carjacking was not being held at gunpoint, Tebow remembered, but after she escaped the armed men and running up the busy street going up to car after car seeking help to no avail.
“It was bumper-to-bumper traffic. You know, people could hear what I was saying, and nobody would stop,” the 30-year-old said. “And honestly, the point that had such a massive impact in my life was, eventually, once I reached the intersection…a young girl, she was 19 years old, she was the only person [to help me].”
“[T]hat moment impacted me so much, because I realized she she actually saved me…from not wanting to look the other way for the rest of my life, because she was 19 years old, and all she had was a beat up old little car to show up for somebody in desperate need,” she continued. “And I’m thankful that in that moment, she didn’t choose her own comfort.”
This experience led her to help fight human trafficking along with her husband Tim Tebow through the Tim Tebow Foundation and founded the Unbreakable campaign that that teaches women’s self-defense through workshops and conferences.
“I think there is so much of that moment that got that that was painful, but that has been turned into purpose” Tebow said on “The Squeeze” podcast. “And I think, you know, in a lot of cases, if we are willing for that pain to be used for purpose, it can be used doesn’t mean it’s not going to take some time and work and help and restoration and healing.”
The new mom of daughter Daphne Reign and author of the new devotional Knowing Who You Are Because Of Who God Is: 100 Days to Unbreakable Faith shared more about purpose, tying it back to faith.
Tebow posted on Instagram,“Sometimes purpose looks like showing up, serving well, and trusting that God is working in the ordinary.”
Praise God for how He used a scary situation to transform Tebow’s outlook on life.
READ NEXT: TIM TEBOW TAKES HIS FIGHT AGAINST CHILD EXPLOITATION ABROAD
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