2Sense: 2016.03.18: The Gift of Life

I never imagined myself caught in a situation that was beyond my control. Fighting just to stay alive, so my existence could live to see another day.

Until the 18th of March 2016.

Life is a precious gift, a gift too many of us seem to take for granted until a near death experience waltz's in.

Well, I've had my whole life, all the years that i have lived, flashing in front of me when i got mugged some few months back.

What was suppose to be a normal day almost ended with two dead bodies lying on the side of the road. Easter holidays were around the corner and i was stuck in traffic with impatient passengers waiting to get home. 2 hours later, we finally reached our drop off point and i met up with my friend.Whilst at the rank, we realised that it was too late and the taxis to where we were headed were all gone. Quite a bummer right?

Well i don't know how you would've handled the situation, but we had no other option than to go hike for a lift.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?

But now that I think of it, it wasn't such a bright idea, but it was an idea nonetheless. So to get to the hiking spot you need to walk a distance, which we did. As we approached the spot, we passed to dodgy looking guys that we thought were also waiting for lifts. After a few minutes, these guys start walking towards our direction, keep in mind that we had bags with us, so they probably thought it was wise to strike while the iron was still hot.

As they got closer, a car flashing it's light approached from behind them, so them pretended to hike and then as soon as it passed I just saw a knife fly out of one's pocket. So it's two against two, armed vs unarmed, as I enter a state of shock (literally). Then I hear my friend's voice shout out my name, I think that's when i snapped out of it and saw my friend being ganged up on as he clinched tighter to his bag.

The worst was really happening.

So i rush over to where all the chaos was happening, leaving my bags on the side of the road and just started swinging punches in every direction hoping they meet a face or two. I remember I even tried finding rocks i could throw but none were in sight, it was like having a gun at war but with no bullets, but nobody wanted to die so we just kept on fighting. That's when they soon backed away and unfortunately caught eye of my unattended bags. They snatched one and started running for the bushes, i wasn't thinking straight at that point, so i ran after them and chased them right in to the deep end until i heard one of them say " Let him come closer so we can kill him ".

What?
Did i just hear these amateurs say they going to kill me in the middle of a bush?
Not today lads, I'm out.

You can have the laptop, I hope the jeans and tee's are a perfect fit too.

So let's just say i made it home alive that night. My friend had a few grazes and I made it home a stab wound. But these things heal. It all heals, with time I forgave them as well. But the problem was the reoccurring image of that night that kept haunting me every night of every day. I never really told a lot of people about it. 

My nights have since changed, constantly looking over my shoulder not knowing what to expect, looking at every approaching person as a suspect. I guess that's what a traumatic experience does to a person. But a few days after the mugging i realised that we don't really appreciate The Gift of Life...

The tangibles, materialistic things we have come to value more than our own lives have ruined us. These things come and go like the wind, at some point they get replaced, life however, comes once and never again will it come in the same form... My new laptop and few clothes were taken that night and as much as i wanted to scream and shout just to let it all out or wring one's neck, it'll all be for nothing because THOSE THINGS ARE GONE AND I STILL STAND.

So what really matters?

Nobody knows when they'll die unless they have psychic abilities or your doctor tells you that you have been diagnosed with 3rd level cancer and tells you that you have under a year to live.

But for the most of us we don't really know.

I honestly didn't think I'd get a chance to write about how i cheated death and stare at it in complete mockery.

Imagine boarding a flight, train, bus, taxi or whatever form of transport you use and not reaching your destination because your life was taken along the way. Think of how it must feel like for those expecting you and those you saw minutes before your departure. All that agonizing pain they'll suffer from just one person's death.

Well i came close to it.

It always sounded funny hearing a friend tell a story of how they got mugged, well that was until it came knocking on my doorstep.

This time, the joke was on me.

By: | Nceba Thabethe |