Couple reeling after attack
A Centurion couple were in bed when a gang of four armed men stormed into their house.
A Centurion couple is still in shock and pain being brutally beaten and stabbed in their Eldoraigne home last week.
Leon and Alet Jones were in bed when a gang of four armed men stormed into their house in Frederik Avenue around 02:00 last Thursday.
They were stabbed and beaten in view of their 10-year-old son.
“They broke my eye socket, so I have to have reconstructive surgery,” Leon said this week.
” My wife’s arm is broken, and the stabbing severed her biceps and the nerves in her arm.”
Leon said this happened in a secure complex.
“The attack has everyone concerned because these men managed to get into the complex and break into our house without anyone noticing.”
All members of the family were asleep when the intruders struck.
“My eldest son, who is 10-years-old, had climbed into bed with us. My eight-year-old was still fast asleep in his room,” said Leon.
“Mere seconds passed from the moment they burst into our room to the moment they attacked us.”
The attackers split up, hitting Leon and Alet at the same time.
“I woke up when the first blow was on my head. By this time they had already stabbed my wife in the arm,” he said.
“I then jumped up and hit one of the guys and fought with one holding a knife. I had to fight for my life. I never even realised that he had stabbed me twice in the chest. One he stopped the other guy hit me over the head four more times.”
One of the men then pulled a firearm and pointed it at Leon’s head as the other two continued to stab Alet.
One of the blows was so brutal that it broke her upper arm.
“When they eventually stopped stabbing us they asked: ‘Do you want to die tonight?’,” recalled Alet.
“The man with the pistol pointed at my head then forced me to take my wedding ring off and took it.”
The Jones’ 10-year-old son was sitting on the bed watching his parents, helpless to stop the attackers. Their 8-year-old slept through the attack.
The men then rummaged through the Jones’ bedroom, taking their tablets and laptops.
They eventually left after strolling through the house, taking all the electronics they could find.
After the attackers left, Leon and Alet grabbed their two sons and rushed to Unitas hospital.
Jones said he was scared they might lose too much blood if they waited for an ambulance.
Both went in for emergency surgery. Both have been discharged, but aren’t out of the woods yet.
Leon said the attackers gained entry to their home by breaking down the front door and security gate.
“When I first moved to Pretoria I thought people were crazy to live behind so many gates and fences. Now I finally realise why they do.”
Centurion Concerned Citizens spokesperson Hannes du Buisson, who first shared the story of the attack on the couple, said one of the attackers had dreadlocks and was wearing a yellow, blue and red-striped jersey.
Jones expressed his gratitude to his neighbour Marius Kruger who first triggered an alarm, and to the doctors who treated them.
“Unfortunately these things happen too often, and these kinds of people aren’t just out to rob you and leave. They often want to kill you,” he said.
“What I realised from this is if anybody else is ever in a situation like this they should not be scared to scream at the top of their lungs for help. Kick up a fuss so that your neighbours can help you.”
Also read:
Family attacked and beaten in Eldoraigne
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