Woman who jumped on bonnet of stolen car says she's no hero
The woman who jumped onto the bonnet of a moving car, in a bid to stop a thief driving away with a baby girl trapped inside, says her “motherly instincts” kicked in.
Baby Amira was asleep inside the vehicle in Coburg on Tuesday afternoon when an opportunistic thief jumped into the driver’s seat and drove away.
Eloca Arafe, who is a friend of Amira's mother, was filmed on the bonnet as the driver hit the accelerator.
"I noticed what they were going to do, so I quickly yelled out to my friend that had the baby in the car ‘they are going to take your car'," Ms Arafe said.
"He's gone to take off … I don’t know how. I just jumped up on the bonnet and (was) just telling him 'the baby, the baby'. That’s all we cared about.
"That’s when I came off the car and he just went."
Amira’s mother suffered a suspected fractured foot as she also tried to stop the thief’s getaway. Luckily the thief later dumped the car with Amira found safely inside.
"The poor mother, I felt so sorry for her," Ms Arafe said.
"I didn’t know what to do for her. I just felt helpless."
Witnesses say the car theft happened in a matter of seconds.
“I saw a gentleman casually get into a car, which I thought was theirs, and then three women from this side of the school ran towards it and were screaming and carrying on,” witness Nikka Vorenas said.
RELATED:
Desperate Melbourne woman clings to bonnet as thief takes car and baby
“A car came down the side of the street and there was a woman on the bonnet of the car trying to stop the vehicle from taking her away,” another witness James Fenton added.
Amira's mother was released from the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Tuesday night.
Ms Arafe, a mother-of-four herself, told Seven News she wouldn't hesitate to do the same again if another child was in danger.
