A pregnant woman was walking her dog in Cincinnati when she was attacked by a man on the street.
The woman, who was nine months pregnant, credited her favourite podcast true crime series My Favorite Murder as the reason she survived.
When the woman noticed a man following her, she crossed the street to avoid him – but the man followed her.
She started running, yelling at the man – 27-year-old Anthony Smith – to stay away but he caught up, tackling her to the ground mumbling “it’s okay” as he attempted to rip off her clothing in broad daylight.
The woman, who has not revealed her name to the public, fought off the man by screaming and hitting Smith ‘with all her strength’ until a group of people from a nearby swimming pool came to her aid.
Speaking with Fox19 NOW from the hospital, the woman credited a true crime podcast she listens to often, My Favorite Murder, with giving her the skills she needed in the situation to fight her attacker off.
The woman suffered a fractured nose and significant bruising to her face, however, her baby survived the ordeal.
Her dog ran home, possibly looking for help.
The woman also posted to Facebook at the time “I feel like I’ve learned so much from listening to this weekly podcast, and I think that it may have helped to prepare me for a situation like this. And I’m not going to lie, as I was being attacked, I could faintly hear their voices in the back of my mind pushing me through…”
To people who don’t listen to the show, her claim might sound bizarre, but hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark focus on flipping the narrative for women who are often portrayed as powerless victims. Instead, the podcast encourages women to fight back.
And that’s exactly what she did.
The woman also credited nearby bystanders for her survival. After bystanders heard her screaming, three men held Smith down while others tended to the woman’s wounds.
