Train attack
2010-07-29
Lise Beyers
AN African dream turned into a nightmare for an American who had for the past year been travelling through the dark continent. Patrick Daly (28), of Washington DC, had taken a year off to fulfil a lifelong dream of seeing and experiencing Africa. He had over the past 11 months ventured through Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, before reaching his final destination, South Africa. But this almost ended in tragedy, when Daly was attacked at knife-point on a Metrorail train on Saturday. Daly, who had been working as a volunteer on a local community farm in Wellington for two weeks, had travelled with two other volunteers to Cape Town for a day of sight-seeing. “We truly had a wonderful day and when we boarded the train for Wellington again, we were exhausted. “We must have dozed off and I was awakened by a hand patting my pockets. I first thought that it was one of my friends playing the fool with me and slapped the hand. “The next minute I was thrown to the ground and surrounded by knife wielding men. One of them put his foot on my throat and I started to choke.” Daly was searched for valuables and his two friends were ordered to hand over anything they had. “After they took what they could, they simply opened a door and jumped off the train as it was slowing down near Wellington. “Although there were other passengers on the train, nobody tried to help us.” The men escaped with cellphones, a Swiss army knife and the victims’ wallets. “Throughout my travels in Africa I was never exposed to danger or violence. Yes, people would try to swindle me because I am a tourist, but I was never even threatened.” Although Daly was obviously shaken by the traumatic incident, he is still determined to finish off his African journey. On Monday he again took a train to Cape Town, from where he rented a car for the last leg of his journey - along the garden route and then on to Johannesburg. “Africa is a beautiful continent, but there are many trials and tribulations which one must go through. And the attack on me is probably a typical South African experience.”
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