A Kiwi woman has described how she jumped from a vehicle travelling 72km/h to escape a kidnapping attempt in Australia 21 years ago.
Justine Woosnam, now 49, was working in Perth as a graphic designer at the time of the incident in 1999.
One night in October she went for a walk but soon found herself in a stranger's car having been kidnapped near Melros Beach.
"Then in my late twenties, I was a horse rider, fit and strong," she told UK tabloid The Sun. "But I stood no chance against this monster."
She remembers thinking she had to do everything possible to try and escape but the man was holding on to her shorts, trying to prevent that happening.
As the man drove onto the town's main road, she managed to unlock her door. Woosnam said she was then held in a headlock by her attacker.
When she realised she had no other option, she managed to jump out of the car travelling 72km/h when the man had to change gears, The Sun reported
"My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. Suddenly, a white pick up truck came down the road."
Screaming for help, two women helped her into the ute and she was taken to a property nearby. The police were then called.
"I was still shaking as officers arrived," she said, as reported by Australia magazine Take5. "As I described what happened to me to a detective, I looked down at my trembling hands and recoiled."
According to reports, the attacker, David Ronald Thompson, was later sentenced to 15 years in prison for several assaults against different women.
Woosnam is now back living in New Zealand.
