Children’s rights activist Christina Noble speaks out after being held at knifepoint in her own home
Children’s rights activist Christina Noble has spoken about a terrifying incident which saw a man break into her Dublin home and threaten her with a knife – holding the blade up to her neck and demanding money from her.
The 72-year-old founder of the Christina Noble Foundation had recently returned from Vietnam where she had collapsed.
She collapsed again when she got home and was told she had low blood pressure which could result in a stroke.
Speaking on the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk this morning she said: “My blood pressure was low…they thought I might have a stroke, but I’m a tough old bird, so I got through it.”
Choosing to sleep downstairs in her home because she had fostered a cat with a weak bladder, she wanted to be there to let the cat in and out during the night.
She said she woke up just before 4am when she felt something on her arm, and when she looked around a man was standing over her.
She said: “He took the knife he had in his hand and he put it towards my throat and he was screaming, ‘give me the money, give me the f***ing money’.
“He stayed for 12 minutes, he was constantly lunging at me with the knife and demanding money while saying, ‘I’m going to kill you, do you understand me, I’m going to kill you’.”
Ms Noble said she had an alarm but it only goes off inside the house. However, she had a personal alarm on the table beside her and in a spilt second, she bravely reached for it and pushed the button.
She said: “I stayed calm for my mind to work properly. I have a panic button on the table and I wanted to put my hand across to press the panic button.
“I waited for him to turn his head and I pressed it and with that he yelled something vicious at me, took my phone and my car keys and took my car.”
Gardai arrived quickly according to the courageous children’s activist, and they believe the burglar used a screwdriver to gain entry into the home.
Ms Noble said she thought long and hard about going public, but wanted to alert others to the fact that this man is out there.
