Brotha survived the attack by playing dead (Image: YouTube)
Alison Botha endured an unthinkable nightmare and, defying all expectations, survived to recount her horrific experience. At merely 27 years of age, Alison was abducted and brutally gang-raped in an attack that also left her disembowelled, compelling her to clutch her intestines whilst her almost severed head « flopped backwards and almost rested between [her] shoulder blades. »
A Port Elizabeth, South Africa native who had been named head girl of her school in 1985, Alison was described by her educational establishment as possessing « utmost positivity and sound moral values. »
She worked as an insurance broker when she spent December 18, 1994, enjoying time with friends.
After arriving home and parking her car, she subsequently remembered: « I had just turned off the engine and flicked off the headlights – it was so routine that I didn’t all in one swift movement. »
As she leaned over to the passenger seat to gather her washing, she spotted a fair-haired man’s head pushing its way into her vehicle. Frans DuToit, whose father worked as a police officer, made death threats towards her, insisting he had no intention of harming her and simply needed the car for an hour.
Alison Botha was just 27 years old when she was abducted, brutalized, and left for dead (Image: YouTube)
Alison recalled feeling « strangely immobilised. »
In 7 bone-chilling words, wicked Du Toit enquired: « You live in number one, don’t you? ».
Desperately trying to forge a rapport with her captor, Alison’s attempts were rebuffed when he responded: « I’d rather not say anything about me. »
She proposed that he simply take the car, but he revealed that he « wanted company, » according to Morbid.
After driving a considerable distance from the city, Du Toit made two passes by a group of people on the street, looking for one specific individual – Theuns Krugeras.
The small man, clothed entirely in black, approached the driver’s door and got into the car. Du Toit, who had provided the false name « Clinton, » adjusted the driver’s seat forward, and as Krugeras climbed in, he declared, « Meet my friend Susan, » pointing towards Alison, who had also assumed a fictitious identity.
They drove towards a suburb outside Port Elizabeth in disturbing silence before Du Toit simply observed, « Theuns doesn’t speak good English. »
Du Toit slowed near a wooded area and pulled over on the sandy terrain. Krugeras exited the car, and then Clinton raped Alison.
Krugeras began to attack her as well, but then stated, « No, I can’t do this, » and stopped, accidentally calling out « Frans » to his partner. Alison committed this name to memory.
Frans then told Alison, « If we take you into town now, you’ll go to the police ». Du Toit followed with, « What do you think Oom Nick would want us to do with her? » Oom Nick is an Afrikaans reference to Satan.
Krugeras responded: « I think he wants us to kill her. »
The pair forced Alison to remove her rings and clothing before Du Toit choked her into unconsciousness, apologising throughout the ordeal. Upon regaining consciousness, Alison found herself surrounded by debris, noticing a man’s arm moving across her vision, leading to the horrifying realisation that he was slitting her throat.
She remembered being able to « hear the flesh slit. »
It was later revealed that the attackers had slashed her throat 16 times, nearly decapitating Alison completely.
Suddenly, the violence ceased, and Alison managed to turn onto her stomach. She recalled: « I tried to hold my breath, but I realized I had no control over my breathing – I moved my hand up to cover my neck – my whole hand disappeared into it, but it seemed to have worked – the sound was silenced. »
She then feigned death. One assailant asked the other whether they believed she had died, with the response being, « no one can survive that. »
Despite her catastrophic injuries, Alison remained determined that her attackers must face justice – she wrote their names in the sand, including « I love mom. »
Describing how her wounds felt, she explained: « It was as if I’d cut moorings. As I hovered there, I recognized the person down below – I knew it was me, and I felt such a strong connection to that bleeding, mangled girl lying on her stomach. »
She then spotted a glimmer of lights and realised she was closer to the road than she had initially thought. She managed to push herself up to her knees, reached down to her stomach, and felt something « tepid, wet, and slimy. »
Looking down, she saw her intestines spilling from her abdomen in a horrific scene. She described the terrifying moment, saying, « It was horrifying, there was just so much of me on the outside. I tried to scoop it all up with my hands but everything just slithered away again. »
She had suffered more than 50 stab wounds to her midsection.
Using a piece of clothing, she tried to keep her organs inside while fragments of glass and debris cut her palms and knees. Half her thyroid gland was protruding from her throat.
At that point, she understood that anyone finding her would discover a massive blood trail, leaving her family devastated, knowing she had suffered tremendously in her final moments.
She added: « My head had flopped backwards and almost rested between my shoulder blades. I expected to feel something, but was completely taken aback when my hand disappeared inside me, almost like I had swallowed myself. »
Holding her head upright with one hand while keeping her internal organs secure with the other, she crawled to the middle of the street and positioned herself sideways to force vehicles to stop. Spotting the first vehicle, she « frantically waved as fast » as possible – yet the driver steered around her.
The next scene that greeted Alison was a woman screaming and a young man kneeling beside her.
The time read 2.45 am when she was found – meaning her nightmare from abduction to rescue had spanned merely an hour and a half. Tiaan Eilerd, who had been enjoying an evening with mates at a nearby venue, stumbled upon Alison.
A qualified vet, he checked her pulse and delicately manoeuvred her thyroid gland back into position within her throat – Alison would subsequently refer to him as her « lifeline. »
The veterinarian was astounded that she had made it through alive. He described her state as looking like a « creature straight out of a Dickens novel » with her neck gashed open « almost ear to ear. »
Without Tiaan’s intervention to reposition her thyroid gland, she would have perished.
Her bowels had suffered numerous knife wounds, and her stomach muscles had collapsed. She subsequently disclosed that one of her assailants informed her they were intentionally attempting to destroy her reproductive organs.
Defying all expectations, she amazingly later delivered two children. After comprehensive surgical treatment, Alison was moved to intensive care.
When details of her assault emerged publicly, officials discovered the duo were on bail whilst facing rape charges. The two culprits confessed to being devil worshippers and pleaded guilty to abduction, sexual assault, and attempted murder.
Du Toit had previously sexually attacked another woman, though his « desire to kill her had subsided » after the assault. In 1995, both perpetrators were handed life sentences without the prospect of parole.
When potential modifications to sentencing legislation surfaced in 2012, Alison pondered: « Can you imagine if just 100 lifers were reintroduced to society without rehabilitation? ».
Her tireless campaigning guaranteed they stayed behind bars. Nevertheless, on July 4, 2023, Du Toit and Kruger were awarded parole having served just 28 years of their life sentences.
Alison was given no prior notice. Writing on her Facebook page, Alison Botha stated: « The day I hoped and prayed would never come. When I was asked ‘How will you feel if they ever get parole?’ – my immediate answer was always – ‘I’m hoping I’ll never find out.' ».
She has documented her experience through her autobiography « I Have Life » and more recently through the documentary « Alison, » which debuted in August this year, detailing her harrowing experience and remarkable recovery. Alison has also addressed numerous gatherings, motivating people by demonstrating how mindset, faith, and decisions enabled her to endure.
Alison was presented with the prestigious Rotarian Paul Harris Award for Courage Beyond the Norm. During that period, she became the first person to receive Femina magazine’s Woman of Courage accolade and was additionally recognised as Port Elizabeth’s Citizen of the Year.
Following the film’s release, Alison pondered: « I have always hoped that by sharing my own journey with others, it would give them hope and courage for their own. To have my story and ultimate triumph shared on screen, would mean that so many more people would see the power of choice that we each have; and might also choose to triumph over life’s hardships. »
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Alison regards her position as a single mother bringing up two sons as her greatest success. Acknowledging her steadfast commitment to motivating others, assisting them in overcoming their obstacles, confronting adversity directly, and sustaining strength through challenging periods, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University takes pride in bestowing upon Alison Botha the Council Prestige Award.
This acknowledgement comes after another shocking incident in which a Colorado father killed his 13 year old son after finding disturbing images of the boy.
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