As the CWA of NSW comes to terms with the rise in rural and regional crime, Inverell branch president Desi Kearsey, OAM, relayed her experience fighting off a home invader with her bare hands - in the dark.
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State-wide members attending the Coffs Harbour gathering heard about the need for 24 hour manned police stations at a time when new recruitment of officers on the beat is falling. They heard calls for politicians to tighten bail laws as a significant increase in break and enter offences had residents "in fear of waking to find intruders in their homes and yards".
A state parliamentary inquiry next month will take a deep dive into these matters.
While recommended practice in situations involving home violence is to call police on triple zero, for some CWA members there is a requirement to skill-up in self-preservation.
A physiotherapist with 50 years' experience, Mrs Kearsey also studied martial arts for the past 20 years to earn a second dan black belt in karate, and along the way claimed a gold medal for her age group at the Australian titles.
During her own horrific experience she used every ounce of that knowledge and skill to protect her home and husband.
"I woke up with three torches shining in my face and I thought it was a bad dream," she recalled at the 102nd CWA AGM in Coffs Harbour this week. "The men were all wearing balaclavas and demanded my purse, money and car keys."
Mrs Kearsey's husband was knocked unconscious from the butt end of a torch and while two of the offenders moved into other parts of the house to search for loot, a third threw the feisty septuagenarian up against the bed post, badly bruising her shoulder.
"I became like an enraged bull," she recalled. "It was a long and nasty fight but eventually I got him in a headlock and he couldn't breathe. I only let him go when I made the choice to go to my husband's side in the dark to see if he was alright.
"It was because of my karate training, no doubt, that I was able to defend myself. And I think the man in the balaclava got a bit of a shock."
"Having this skill humbles you," she admits.
"You realise you are a weapon. It makes you kind and that is part of the philosophy of martial arts.
"You don't get into an altercation unless you are forced. It is better to talk your way out of a situation, but there was no talking that night."
