A 61-year-old who claimed a sex change from female to male 16 years ago was her ''greatest mistake" has begun transitioning back to a woman
Image by: Jon Mills
A 61-year-old who claimed a sex change from female to male 16 years ago was her ''greatest mistake" has begun transitioning back to a woman.
Debbie Karemer struggling with her sexual identity for years and asked for gender reassignment aged 44 - becoming Lee Harries.
Shockingly, she claims she began private testosterone treatment a DAY later and had her breasts removed after three months - starting an 11-year journey to become a 'man'.
But after years of counselling she finally discovered she wasn't transgender - but was instead suffering with horrific complex PTSD, after years of sexual abuse.
It was too late for Debbie, and now she feels like a woman trapped in "an approximation of a male body".
She's now back to identifying as Debbie - dressing in women's clothing - and is on the NHS waiting list for an operation to reverse the re-assignment.
Six weeks ago she started taking oestrogen and is now being seen by specialists at an NHS gender identity clinic but claimed they are not too sure how to help.
Debbie stopped taking testosterone in February this year and has had to wait nine months for it to completely leave her system.
She said she should never have been allowed to transition and is seeking support from The Detransition Advocacy Network on the next steps.
She's speaking out on the "taboo" subject of surgery regret - gender reassignment reversal - to encourage others to seek talking therapy before surgery.
Debbie, from Hemel Hempstead, said: "I look in the mirror through the eyes of that terrified 15-year-old girl and see this funny little man staring back at me.
"I'm a woman, I'm still Debbie.
"But now I've got no hair. I've got a beard and I've had all my body mutilated.
"I wish I could turn back the clock and just have the foresight of what the nightmare the next 15 years would be.
“I’m a woman I’m not meant to be a bloke. I’m trapped.
“It’s a complete mess - where do you even start? I just regret the decision.
“There is this myth that when an individual ‘changes gender’ they go into hospital one gender and come out ‘all done’.
“That isn’t the case, there are years of surgeries and hormones for the rest of your life.
"I know things are a lot better than they were when I had my surgeries, but there is a big lack of talking therapies.
"I should have been helped.
“I’m sure a lot of transgender men feel the same too but I’m the only one honest and brave one to come out and say it."
Debbie said she was sexually abused by her estranged father - no deceased - when she was a teenager.
She struggled with her sexual identity for years, even developing objectum sexuality - sexual attraction to objects like a white Fender Stratocaster and a fishing rod.
“Looking back it was just a way of coping with the trauma," she said.
Debbie then married her one and only long-term friend Alan in December 1997.
The self loathing became so extreme she almost cut off her breasts with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Image by: Lee Harries
Image by: Jon Mills
Image by: Lee Harries
She first heard of transgender and gender reassignment surgery in 2002 while watching an episode of chat show programme Kilroy in his living room.
“The programme was introduced as a ‘special’ where transgender men and women were on," she said.
“At the time it was a state of mind no body really spoke about.
“I remember seeing them on the TV and thinking ‘that’s me!’
“I suppose they seemed confident in themselves and seemed accepted.
“That’s all I wanted.
“I had spent years feeling I couldn’t live in my own body and hating every single moment.
"Suddenly I saw the answer on Kilroy. It felt like the only answer. It felt like the only way forward."
Later that week Debbie researched transitioning online and discovered a local F2M support group in Camden, London.
There she was given the number of a leading private psychiatrist specialising in gender identity disorder.
Later that week she booked an appointment with a private psychiatrist and was given a two-week course of testosterone to start the very next day, she said.
Just three months later Debbie - who went by the name Lee - underwent a private double bi-lateral mastectomy.
Having lived off benefits since living his factory job, Alan paid for the initial consultation and double bilateral mastectomy costing £3,500.
In November 2004 Debbie had her uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, and a Metoidioplasty - the beginning of surgery to create a penis.
In 2005 she had prosthetic testicles created and in 2008 she had her vagina removed, and a few months later surgeons created a penis using fat and skin from his arm.
In May 2010 excess breast tissue was removed and in April 2013, more surgery was performed on her testicles.
All but the first op - the mastectomy - was performed by private hospitals paid by the NHS, she said.
She said she had some counselling sessions before one of the ops - but that the funding had already been agreed and it was a 'box ticking exercise'.
"At the time it felt like the right thing to do and I was really glad it was happening," she said.
“I remember when I started waking up in the morning and seeing stubble on my face, thinking ‘this is the start of a new life’ and I’m no longer this traumatised girl.
“I wanted to start this life as a new man so I enlisted myself on a computer course."
Image by: Lee Harries
Image by: Lee Harries
Image by: Lee Harries
With hindsight, the first step towards his realisation was when she approached the police in 2012, to report the abuse at the hands of her father.
Prompted by the Jimmy Saville scandal, she gave statements but her father died from emphysema in 2013, before she could be charged, Lee said.
Lee had sought the help of a private counsellor in 2009.
She thought her feelings about her body might stem from transitioning "too late" but after four years, in 2013 - after her final op - she realised her "mistake".
"She started to mention the words 'childhood trauma' and it fell into place," she said.
"It became apparent that transitioning was a big mistake.
"The session where I realised this was so bad that I had a complete break down and panic attack because I realised it was a huge mistake.
"It should never have happened. It was a big wake up call.
"I was traumatised by what had happened in my life and it was misdiagnosed as being transgender.
"I was vulnerable, I just though that if I wasn't a girl my life would be different, I would be different, I would be accepted and that would be it.
"I thought that becoming a man would make me worthy and I would become a different person.
"Looking back now I realise that it was simply a feeling that if I didn't have a vagina, I couldn't be raped.
“But I’m not a man, I am an approximation of a man.
“I feel completely ‘mutilated'.
"I completely missed out on being a woman. I denied my body the chance to go through the menopause.
“I wish I could wake up as Debbie and realise that the last 15 years were just as bad a nightmare."
Debbie primarily blames her father for what has happened to her - but then the private psychiatrist who started off her journey.
"What should have happened differently? Having a different upbringing," she said.
"But I think that the psychiatrist should have picked up on the fact that I was abused.
"I should have had help somewhere along the line."
"I can't fathom the huge increase in gender reassignment surgery.
"There is a huge lack of talking therapies, and that's a problem.
"I know a couple of trans men from when I was going through it and I know they were doing it for the same reasons as me.
“Trans-men and women come out of hospital saying everything is great - but that’s not always the case.
“If they are doing it for the right reasons then that’s fair.
“But nobody is honest when it goes wrong.
“On the inside I’m just not me.
“I’m a different creature on the outside.
“Inside I am still that young girl calling out but I miss looking in the mirror and seeing my feminine self.
“The thing I dream and long to do is to go out for a meal.
“But most of all I just miss the old Debbie.”
Video by: Gabriella Petty
SOLE DESTROYING - A super-tough adventurer has completed a historic feat of endurance - running 2,620 miles across the UK BAREFOOT
Image by: Adam Harnett
A super-tough adventurer has completed a historic feat of endurance - running 2,620 miles across the UK BAREFOOT.
Anna McNuff set out from the Shetland Isles in June 2019 and, after 2,620 miles - the equivalent of 100 marathons - reached the finishing line today (Sun).
The intrepid explorer, who has previously cycled through all 50 US states and run the length of New Zealand, has been obsessed with running without shoes for a while now.
Tough Anna crossed the line, in Cannizaro Park in Wimbledon, south west London, at round 2pm, completing her 'Barefoot Britain' challenge.
Anna said: “It’s been a wonderful, weird, difficult and extraordinary five months.
"I have stepped in poo, glass - and even on a dead rabbit. You don’t have to run 100 marathons barefoot to have an adventure.
"But you do have to take that first step out of your comfort zone. I know that if girls can take those first adventurous steps, then they'll see what they are truly capable of.”
Before setting off, she said: “I’ve had a quiet obsession with minimalist running for a few years now, ever since I read Born to Run and spent time in New Zealand - where many of the kids run around barefoot.
“Feet are quite the complex machine, with over 7,000 nerve endings in each sole and 26 bones in each foot.
“This adventure is a huge experiment – I’m looking to see if I can coax my feet into doing what they were truly built to do, after a lifetime of being squidged up in shoes.”
Both of Anna’s parents were Olympians, and she grew up wanting to follow in their footsteps.
She went on to row for Great Britain, winning a bronze medal at the 2007 European Championships.
But, dogged by injuries in her twenties, she decided to retire and embark on a new life as an adventurer, travelling the world in pursuit of new and daunting endurance challenges and writing two books in the process.
Anna is an ambassador for UK Girl Guiding, and a central part of her mission is “to show the young women of Great Britain that there is more magic in them than they will ever know.”
Throughout her run, she stopped off to talk with groups of Girl Guides across the country, speaking to them about “ the joys of adventure and the great outdoors”.
Image by: Adam Harnett
Image by: Adam Harnett
Image by: Adam Harnett
Image by: Adam Gray SWNS
Image by: Adam Gray SWNS
Image by: Adam Harnett
She said: “I wanted to show girls they can do anything.
"That’s why I’ve run the length of the UK in my bare feet – to show girls and young women that taking risks and doing things that scare them, big or small, can be incredible.
"And being a girl should not stop you from doing anything. I have spoken to thousands of girls in all over the UK and my message has always been ‘be bold, be brave and be you.’
"The girls are always so eager to see my feet and surprised that they don't look all that different to their own – mine just have a bit more dirt on them."
From the Shetland Isles, Anna’s run - which took five months - took her down the northeast coast of Scotland towards Inverness, before heading down to Glasgow and Edinburgh via Aberdeen.
Her route then took her across the border to Newcastle, through the Pennines to Yorkshire before heading to Liverpool and catching a ferry to Belfast.
After running along the Northern Irish coast, she took a ferry back to Wales and headed towards Nottingham, eventually heading down to Bristol and the southeast.
The last legs of her journey saw her cross over to the Isle of Wight, before heading up through Surrey towards London.
Anna encouraged supporters to help her out on the way, either by offering to transport her bag for a stage of the run, giving her somewhere to stay for the night or running alongside her.
She said: “Adventures are about a quest for growth. I figure that if I’m going to stand in front of young girls around the UK and encourage them take on challenges that they believe to be just beyond their reach – then I have to be on that journey too.”
Asked before she set out what she would do if she stepped on glass and cut her foot, Anna said: “I don’t know yet. But I figure I can only control the controllable.
“If I get injured or step on a broken Irn Bru bottle in the outskirts of Glasgow, then I will deal with that then.”
Her adventure has even baffled her own mother.
Anna added: “She thinks I’m bonkers. But then again she’s bonkers too and she raised me to believe in what is possible, rather than focus on what isn’t.
“Therefore, really - this is all her doing.”
A cleaner won two £500,000 Thunderball jackpots in the same draw by MISTAKE and almost asked for her ticket to be void
Image by: Tristan Potter SWNS
A cleaner won two £500,000 Thunderball jackpots in the same draw by MISTAKE and almost asked for her ticket to be void.
Gayle Say, 56, bought multiple lines for three tickets for Tuesday’s draw but realised she had copied the same numbers out twice.
The gran was about to ask the shopkeeper if she could cancel one of the tickets but changed her mind, because "it's not like we will win anyway".
But the lines she duplicated matched the five numbers 4, 7, 20, 23, 27 and the Thunderball 8 meaning she won the £500,000 top prize twice over.
Gayle also matched three numbers and the Thunderball on another line to claim an extra £20.
And in a one-in-a-million chance, she also won an extra £5,000 by matching five numbers and £10 for guessing three numbers on another line.
Gayle, who is married to Philip, 65, quit her job as a cleaner after scooping her mega rollover win.
She said: “I always go to the same shop to buy the tickets but after checking them I realised I’d chosen the same combination twice, one on each ticket.
“I thought about trying to get the ticket void but thought ‘it doesn’t matter, it’s not like I will win anyway’, and left the shop.”
Gayle realised her mistake had doubled her money later when she checked the Thunderball numbers on her phone.
She said: “With the tickets in my hand I rushed inside to tell Philip we had won and at the same time I realised another of the ticket’s had the same number line.
“I kept shouting ‘we’ve won and we’ve won again!’ Philip was scrambling around for his glasses to look at the phone to make sure I was right.
“We were both shaking, my legs were wobbling and we just looked at the phone in shock.”
Retired builder Philip, 65, said: “I immediately started to text the family with the news but no one believed me.
“I then saw a sight I will never forget, my wife dancing around the living room singing Frank Sinatra’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”
The couple, who have four grown-up children and seven grandchildren, plan to put deposits on houses for their family and help them with their rent.
Image by: Tristan Potter SWNS
Image by: Steve Chatterley
Image by: Tristan Potter SWNS
Gayle added: “As well as helping out the family, all I want is for Philip to finish off the extension he is working on, and now with the winnings I can have a new kitchen.
“I resigned last week after we found out about the win, worked my week’s notice and as of today I am officially retired. It feels great.”
The couple bought their Thunderball tickets from Nina’s Convenience Store in Coventry.
Every Tuesday they buy multiple lines on three tickets based on door numbers, anniversaries and family birthdays.
Double lotto winners Gayle and Philip Say, who are both 65, say their first purchase will be a car to ferry around their seven grandchildren.
Gayle said: “My eyes popped out when I found out. I felt like jelly. I thought ‘I’ve got to get this right, it might not be’ I am still trying to get over it now. It’s beginning to sink in.
“We haven’t made a new purchase yet, but it will mostly be going to family and a new car. We’ve had lots of ideas but nothing as of yet.
“We couldn’t believe it. We can make a few more mistakes like that.
“My last shift this morning was great. I won’t have to get up in the cold dark mornings anymore. I have to leave the house by 6.40am and I do weekends so I only have one day off.
“I can lie in on Saturday and Sunday now. It’s amazing I haven’t done that for 28 years. I will find something to do though.
“We will sort one thing out at a time. We will be staying in Coventry though.
“We have used those numbers since it started. I’ve been playing the lottery since it started. I have done HotPicks and the EuroMillions, but I just do Thunderball now.
“I would usually just win little bits, but now I’ve got a big bit!”
Philip said: “After we found out we had two lots of numbers the same, she then said she has got a line with five numbers but without the bonus ball.
“If we had the bonus number, it would have been another £500,000. But a million is enough at the moment.
“I cycle everywhere, so I don’t have a car. But it will be something for the kids. It’s £1million for our family, not for us.
“We want to get a family car because we have grandchildren. I look after them on a Monday and a Tuesday.
“We won’t change, we will be the same. It’s just you have some money to be the same with.
“We still have our numbers for tonight’s draw. I just hope we win that one.”
A stunned pensioner found a Napoleonic sword in the same spot he buried it as a boy - 70 years ago
Image by: James Dadzitis SWNS
A stunned pensioner found an Napoleonic sword in the same spot he buried it as a boy - 70 years ago.
Peter Pike, 81, was just 11 when he first came across the mystery weapon in a scabbard while playing with friends in the woods.
He was scared by his discovery and didn't tell his three pals, so quickly buried it again in the same spot and forgot all about it.
But several decades later he remembered what he had done and decided to try and dig it up.
And to his amazement when he returned to the woods in Newton Abbot on holiday it was still in the same spot.
The historic weapon now has pride of place on display at his home in Paington, Devon.
Peter said: "We were playing in Bradley Woods. When I was a child that's what you did.
"Every Saturday morning about four of us would go and play up in the woods and we built our own den.
"We all used to go up to where we were playing. I was only about 11 and it was all very sweet and innocent.
"One day one of the lads said 'Can we make another den this one's getting very dirty' and I was pushed under a big bramble bush to have a look.
"As I was pushing back all the roots and leaves I found this sword - a big metal one in a metal holster.
"I was so surprised I didn't know what to do."
Peter, who was raised in a children's home, was worried that he would get in trouble if he returned to his carers with a sword - so he hid it.
Image by: James Dadzitis SWNS
Image by: James Dadzitis SWNS
Image by: James Dadzitis SWNS
He added: "In those days if we did anything wrong they always threatened that you would get sent to Forde Park if you were naughty.
"I thought if I took a sword back to the children's home that I would get sent to Forde Park which was more like a prison for boys.
"So I didn't tell anybody - I covered it up with mud again and left it for later.
"But then I just forgot all about it for years and years."
Peter now has the sword and experts have taken a look at it and confirmed that it probably dates from the end of the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century.
He added: "I never thought about it once in all that time.
"It wasn't until I was back in Devon on holiday that I remembered. We arranged to go back to the woods and take my daughter's beach spade with us.
"I couldn't believe it - I went straight back to the exact same bush and dug with the child's metal spade and I was lucky. It was still there. I couldn't believe it.
"We decided to bring it home and it's been with us ever since, in pride of place on the fireplace.
"It's in a metal holster and it was well-oiled but it looks like it's seen some heavy action - there's damage on the hilt and I wonder if that's why it was thrown away."
Peter said he has taken the sword to Newton Abbot Museum for evaluation and experts believe it dates from sometime around the end of the Napoleonic War.
Peter added: "The Museum is interested in putting it on display but I don't want to give it away or sell it - maybe at some later time, but not just yet."
Video by: James Dadzitis SWNS
Hundreds of rough sleepers in Britain are to be given ''pioneering pods'' this Christmas - previously used in the 'Calais Jungle'
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Hundreds of rough sleepers in Britain are to be given ''pioneering pods'' this Christmas - previously used in the 'Calais Jungle'.
More than £10,000 has been raised for the groundbreaking initiative, which is being rolled out across Bristol, Bath and Weston-super-Mare.
The lifesaving 'Sleep Pods' were originally made to help refugees in Europe and cost roughly £25 each.
But 400 are being brought to the South West as part of a project aimed at battling homelessness and are set to be distributed next month.
The cash for the designs has been raised through a sold-out music event titled 'Give a S*** Xmas', featuring the band IDLES and Geoff Barrow, member of Portishead.
Local statistics estimate that 85 people a night sleep on the streets of Bristol alone - with recent reports showing homeless people in the city are dying at twice the national rate.
Homelessness in general has risen in the UK by more than 165% in the last decade with 726 people dying in 2018 - a 20% increase on the year before.
Volunteers are now being sought to help build and distribute the pods.
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Joby Andrews, director of Refresh the West who are involved in the project, said: "This is a truly Bristol collaboration of people who recognise there is a homeless crisis in our city and have come together with an emergency measure to stop people dying on the streets this Christmas.
"Give a S*** Xmas has stepped in at the last minute to help us raise the extra funds we needed to get the 400 sleep pods down here from where they are made in Birmingham, so we are particularly grateful to them.
"We really need people now to come and help us build the pods and get them out to people who have nowhere else to go over the festive period."
Tom Friend, from Give A S*** Xmas, said: "We’ve been overwhelmed by the response to this year’s gig – there is so much support from the local community in helping people who have nowhere to live and we all have a role to play.
"In particular, where people cannot access a safe night’s respite this is particularly desperate
"When we heard about the drive to bring 400 Sleep Pods to Bristol, we knew we had to support it alongside our other front line charities and hope as many people can get involved in the build as possible."
People are asked to email joby@refreshwest.com to volunteer.
WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND - A young woman who suffers up to 100 seizures A DAY has revealed she's regularly rescued by her dog - who can recognise her distress despite never being trained
Image by: Lucy Brown
A woman who suffers up to 100 seizures a DAY is regularly rescued by her DOG - that can recognise her distress despite never being trained.
Lucy Brown gave up her job and lost her freedom after being struck down by non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD).
The condition has forced the former carer to leave the house she shared with her boyfriend of five years and move back in with her parents for her own safety.
Brave Lucy, 20, said she has also had to sign on for benefits and has lost several friendships since being hit by NEAD as she can't drink or go out.
But one thing has kept her going through the difficult times - her pet dog Freddie.
Despite no training Freddie acts like a seizure dog - whenever she fits he licks and paws at her and brings her round.
The two-year-old Labrador acts as Lucy's safety net, keeping her out of harm when there is nobody else around.
She said: "He does what seizure dogs do - he licks me and paws me to bring me round but has never had any training.
"He's the main reason I moved back home. He will help me when I'm on my own. He's my dog - I got him as a puppy. He's always by my side and will just lie with me.
"I can't remember the first time he helped but, from what I’ve been told, he just ran straight over to me, starting licking my face and cuddled his body into me."
Lucy, from Warrington, Cheshire said she first suffered seizures when she was in her mid-teens but they quickly disappeared.
However, the condition returned with a vengeance at the start of 2019 - turning her life upside down.
Although doctors initially thought she had epilepsy medication prescribed to her put her in hospital - leading staff to run a series of tests that eventually led to NEAD.
Symptoms include convulsions and loss of bladder control - all epilepsy-like indicators.
She said: "It's just been getting me depressed - losing my job and everything. Everyone is moving on with their lives and I'm held back.
"It's very lonely. I don't really do much. I can't even have a bath alone.
"I average about ten seizures a day, although it was up around 100 in February. They range from staring into space to full-on fits.
"I have to make sure I'm in a safe place. A couple of times a month they go above 20 or 30 a day.
"The seizures don't really have a trigger.
"When I first started having them I was still going out and I would always get them when I got home, so I thought it could be the lights.
"Car headlights always look like they are on full beam, too. But I still don't think that's right."
Image by: Lucy Brown
Image by: Lucy Brown
Image by: Lucy Brown
Image by: Lucy Brown
Plucky Lucy said her partner Bradley, 20, has been great.
But the condition has meant she can't go out and drink anymore - meaning she has drifted away from some people.
She said: "It's just embarrassing going out. Socialising is just no good as you're in fear of having one [a seizure]. I've lost a lot of friends.
"Friends use to invite me to go out but due to so many last-minute cancellations they naturally stopped asking.
"I get occasional texts off of a couple of people but I just have lost contact with a lot as I rely on others. I won’t go anywhere on my own."
Lucy said the attacks can strike at any time - and there's no telling when they might stop.
She said: "I might have to live with [NEAD] for the rest of my life. But it could also stop tomorrow. I've got some other health problems - I'm going through some tests at the moment.
"They want to rule out epilepsy completely although I'm already sure it's not. They have to be 100 per cent sure as if you're not on medication it can damage your brain."
Stoic Lucy now wants to speak out to raise awareness.
It is estimated that around 15,000 people in the UK have the condition, according to a NEAD support website - although that figure could be much higher.
She said: "A lot of people get diagnosed with epilepsy and actually have NEAD. It's about awareness.
"Epilepsy drugs are really toxic for your body so it's not good to be on the medication [if you don't need them]."
Lucy has tried counselling for the condition but, aside from that, said there is not much that can be done - including surgery and other treatments.
Sadly, she said: "Counselling was the only option for me."
Video by: Lucy Brown
DEAD COOL! - Moment a Marvel fan has celebrated his 100th skydive - by jumping dressed as Deadpool
Image by: Derek Finn
A Marvel fan has celebrated his 100th skydive - by jumping dressed as Deadpool.
Derek Finn, 37, jumped from 12,000ft dressed as the lycra-clad superhero, played by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds.
He decided to wear the outfit after watching the skydiving scene in the second movie, when Deadpool jumps to the ground - only to be left hanging on a roadside sign.
Ex-freestyle skier and full-on daredevil Derek donned his favourite Marvel hero's suit, and had a buddy film the 50 second free fall over Las Vegas, Nevada.
Derek, from Las Vegas, said: "It ended up being a perfect day, and I was able to do the jump with five friends - one of them filming it!
"I had some amazing footage, and just wanted everyone to know that you can have loads of fun skydiving and going in fancy dress!
"Usually people do something fun to celebrate a milestone like the 100th jump.
"They jump naked, or in their underwear or something.
"Since mine happened to be on our hHalloween party, so I decided to wear a fun costume - and who's more fun than Deadpool?
"I mean, you also don't want anything loose or flapping or sticking out when you skydive because it can catch on your parachute, so the one-piece was a good pick!"
Image by: Derek Finn
Derek first started skydiving in May because he always wanted to try it, jumping so regularly he got his licence in just four months.
He decided to dress as the 'Merc with a Mouth' for his 100th jump over Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) as he loves the loudmouthed hero.
Derek said: "I picked Deadpool because he's probably my favourite Marvel superhero - I've always been a fan of the comics, video games, and movies.
"And there's an epic skydiving scene in the Deadpool 2 movie.
"So I thought dressing as him would be a perfect fit!
"We had a load of fun, and it made for an awesome day!"
Derek jumped for the 100th time at around 2pm on October 26.
A Muslim schoolgirl who was "strangled" with her own hijab has said she is terrified to leave her house after the vicious attack
Image by: JP Sheffield Star
A Muslim schoolgirl told how she was 'strangled' with her own hijab and punched during an horrific racial attack as she was travelling on a bus.
Redana Al-Hadi, 14, was punched repeatedly by a woman who had shouted racial slurs at her while she was travelling with her 13-year-old sister, Wadaad.
Redana was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured eye socket after the attack, which she says has left her "too scared to get the bus to school".
The teenagers were travelling home from school when the woman, who was travelling with a man, began to "mock" their accent and abuse them about their headwear.
The argument then spilled out of the bus and onto the road, where the woman knocked Redana to the ground and beat her.
Mobile phone footage of the horrifying incident was shared online and shows the woman on top of Redana as blows rained down.
Brave Redana has now spoken out about the ordeal, which took place shortly after 4.30pm on Wednesday, December 4.
Redana, of Sheffield, South Yorks., said: "As we were getting off the bus he stood up and screamed the N word towards my friend and then my friend reacted but a little boy at the back of the bus stood up and said don’t call her that, we’re black.
"Then the lady stood up and started pushing the man towards the back of the bus and then she punched him.”
Redana says a short argument broke out between the man and the woman – who are thought to have known each other – before the man grabbed one of the children.
She said the woman then turned on her and began shouting racial slurs.
Image by: JP Sheffield Star
Image by: JP Sheffield Star
Redana added: “She then threw herself at me and dragged me out the bus, and as she dragged me to the floor she strangled me with my hijab and then my little sister tried to stop it and the man grabbed my sister by her waist and threw her into oncoming traffic.
“She kicked me in my neck and knocked me out with her fist and started smashing my head and stamping on me while my arm was over my face and I thought I broke my arm.
"My face is all swollen and it’s a mess.”
She said she has been left traumatised and scared to leave the house.
She added: “I feel targeted because I’m a Muslim girl and I’ve not gone back to school because I’m too scared to go back on the bus or to leave my house.
“I’m scared of adults harassing me and I already had bad eyesight, I wear glasses, and the eye she damaged is my good eye.”
The girls' mother Racheda Ali, 51, said: “When I got the phone call from my Wadaad my youngest saying ‘mum she’s killing my sister, she’s attacking Redana and attacking us’, I just didn’t know what to do.
"When we got there all the children were crying because they were all scared and shaking.
"My daughter was having a panic attack, it’s just ridiculous what they did to her.”
A 40-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man were arrested by South Yorkshire Police, who said the incident "remains under investigation".
The solicitor representing the family, Arshaid Bashir of Adam Law Solicitors, said:
“This is an assault on a child where derogatory language has been used.
"It is a racially aggravated assault.
"There was serious harm to a child who was attacked due to her appearance.
“The CPS ought to have been consulted prior to any decision being made. Public duty requires the perpetrator to be prosecuted.
“At the very least the perpetrator should have been charged with affray as part of joint enterprise with the co-accused as unlawful violence was used towards another which caused other persons to fear for their safety.
"There are aggravating features in this case as it was a busy public area, children were present and it was a sustained attack.”
This is the moment a real-life 'Iron Man' showcased his jetpack technology to American military teams
Image by: Ben Philipson
This is the moment a real-life 'Iron Man' showcased his jetpack technology to American military defence teams.
Richard Browning, a former Royal Marines Reservist, is seen whizzing round the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The fully functioning ‘Jet Suit’ developed by Gravity Industries is powered by cutting-edge technology and makes human flight a reality.
Richard, Founder and Chief Pilot of Gravity Industries, travelled to Annapolis, home of the United States Naval Academy to play host to the ‘Atlantic Future Forum’.
There were a series of events on board the vessel, aimed at bringing together the military leadership and great minds from a host of nations to discuss the future of Defense capability
As a beacon of UK innovation in this space, Gravity Industries was invited by the Royal Navy and British Embassy to support the two days celebrating British Trade and Innovation, by demonstrating multiple Jet Suit flights to innovators, business leaders and senior military representatives from the UK and US.
Image by: Ben Philipson
Image by: Ben Philipson
Image by: Ben Philipson
Richard can be seen leaving the HMS Queen Elizabeth and hurtling across the ocean to spin around a boat full of amazed US investors.
As the founder of Gravity Industries, Richard leads a team that also designs and builds the Jet Suits.
He recently more than doubled his own world record, achieving a speed of more than of 85 mph: he now holds the Guinness World Record for “fastest speed in a jet engine powered suit”.
Richard said: ‘We were honored to be invited to support this year’s Atlantic Future Forum and demonstrate the capabilities of Gravity’s jet engine powered suit to this audience”
“We are passionate about supporting UK PLC, Trade and Innovation and our work with the Royal Navy is part of an ongoing programme of exploration and demonstration of our tactical mobility capability.”
“This exploration is alongside our core focus which is scaling more than 90+ events across 30 countries, into becoming an international Race Series.”
Video by: Ben Philipson
STAG KILLED BY PLASTIC - These shocking pictures show a stag found with its antlers wrapped in a mass of discarded plastic strapping
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
These shocking pictures show a beautiful stag which died after it was found with its antlers wrapped - in a mass of discarded plastic strapping.
The distressed animal was discovered tangled in the plastic waste on a hillside on the west coast of Jura, Inner Hebrides, yesterday (Wed).
It is thought the stag had been grazing on seaweed on the idyllic island's shoreline when the plastic banding caught on his antlers.
He then walked around a mile onto the hillside, where he has been starving for the last week as the plastic was wrapped around his mouth.
The beautiful animal was discovered by shocked gamekeeper, Scott Muir, 32, who said the stag sadly had to be put to sleep.
Scott, who has lived on the island - with a population of just 230 - all his life, said plastic pollution on the coast has increasingly worsened in the last five years.
He said: “I was walking over the estate when I saw the plastic waste and realised there was a stag caught.
“I thought it was dead at first but as I approached it I could see his head start to move.
“These can be 18st animals and I know how powerful they can be, but he looked tired and stressed and he couldn’t see because the plastic was right around his antlers.
“He wouldn’t have been able to graze either as it was right over his mouth, so he was effectively starving.
“He would have been down at the shore grazing on seaweed, like a lot of the stags do, and as he has had his antlers down they have caught in the plastic banding.
“It looks like he has then walked about a mile up onto the hillside, no mean feat considering it was tangled around his back leg as well as round his antlers.
“I think he has been there for about a week. In the end the animal had to sadly be dispatched.”
Image by: Clemens Weiss
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Scott is also a volunteer with Wild Side of Jura, a group aiming to protect the west coast and raise awareness to stop plans for a potential fish farm being built.
Scott said: “We are a group of five or six volunteers who came together to protect the west coast of Jura and raise awareness of a fish farm which is trying to be built here.
“The plastic pollution is getting worse. We have seen an increase in plastic waste on the west coast in the last five, six years.
“The plastic on the stag is not fishing net but plastic banding which is used in conjunction with fishing.
“We can’t categorically say where it came from but I'd be willing to bet some sort of commercial fishing, fish farm, which is what we are trying to stop on the west coast of Jura.”
Anger locals took to social media to voice their outrage.
One said: "That's shocking, poor animal, the thought of him struggling with that for hours makes me so angry.
"So much plastic out there, it makes it much more of a reality when you see the damage it does so close to home."
Another said: "Poor thing, what an awful sight. I can’t believe how loosely regulated boats are it’s dreadful."
Someone else added: "Whoever threw that, and more, overboard obviously do not care about the consequences of their actions.
"Out of sight, out of mind. What a terrible plight for an innocent creature."
