Mugged Last Night in Philly
Dear [Lynn],
I ran into a big problem on the way home from the movie last night. I was attacked and assaulted. A man approached me, wanting a cigarette. When I told him I didn’t have any, he moved in front of me, blocking my path. Sensing trouble, I bolted around him and began to run as fast as I could. He chased me, cursing under his breath. When he started gaining on me, I began screaming to get others’ attention. But then he hit me hard on the head with something, with enough force to knock me down and leave a nasty laceration. But fortunately, I was able to get up and get away from him.
Bleeding badly, I managed to get myself home and call the police. They came and took me to Frankford Hospital. It took 5 stitches to close the head wound. And they had to shave my hair off around the site of the injury.
Then, after the hospital trip, I went to the police barracks and a detective spent an hour or so gathering information about the incident. He let me see some mug shots but I could not identify the person. He said that an arrest would be unlikely. But they might stumble onto this person if he gets into other trouble and they catch him. The police were very thoughtful and kind and really treated this as a very important incident, even though they no doubt see this sort of thing often. Every one of them, from the 911 operator to the ones that took the initial report and the one who drove me home, all were very concerned about me and were very comforting. I think I’m going to write a letter of praise.
Anyway, I think I’m alright, although the doctor said that I’m likely to have a nasty headache for the next couple days with possible disorientation. FYI.
I don’t think I ever really understood the fight or flight response until that guy was chasing me. I tell you, once I sensed imminent danger hearing that guy’s footfalls and angry curses behind me, my brain and body went into automatic overdrive. Gone were all thoughts, inhibitions, and pain. Even though he hit me hard enough to draw blood and topple me, the pain was surprisingly little – almost nonexistent. All were replaced with one, single, tightly focussed directive. And that was to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible, with as much noise as possible. It was like I was outside my body, watching the whole thing in a movie. My body was under its own direction at that point (sheer survival instinct), and I was just along for the ride. But I never felt my heart pump so fast, my legs thrust me forward with such force, nor did I know I could scream as loudly as I did – I even set off a few car alarms as I passed them – you know, the noise. It really took the jerk by surprise and I think that the screams were what made him back off finally, and run the other way.
Anyway, I’m still pretty wired but am going to try and get some sleep. I’ll write more sometime later tomorrow, once my epinephrine levels return to normal. 
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:26 am
Wow!! Sounds just awful. I’ve never had to experienced such an awful thing. I think that you gave a pretty good description of the whole incident and glad to know that you survived such a life changing experience.