Ponce
4th April 2011, 11:07 AM
Months ago, when a stranger broke into Mary Anne Witfield's North Asheville home, she didn't want to give interviews.
Time is healing her fear, and now she talks about that horrible night and the scrappy cat she believes saved her life.
“It was back in the fall,” she said. “A Tuesday night and a warm evening.”
The house felt stuffy, so Mary Anne decided to open the sliding glass door and just lock the screened portion.
She put on a fan to cool the room. And then she and Sam, the calico stray she took in, went to bed.
“It was the black of night,” she said. “I didn't look at the clock. The two of us were sleeping in the bed.”
Normally, Sam doesn't sleep with her. “Thank God, that night she was,” Mary Anne said.
The next thing she remembers is a man shaking her and yelling, “Wake up. Wake up.”
“He had dragged me out of bed, and I was screaming,” she said. “I saw in my peripheral vision something flying through the air.”
It was Sam. And she landed on the intruder's face, digging her claws into him with all of her 8-pound might.
The cat wouldn't let go as Mary Anne continued screaming.
“She hung onto him and his face with claws sharp as nails,” she said. “I saw him tighten his muscles when he tried to pull her off.”
She described her invader as a white male about 6 feet tall. When the cat finally released him, he fled, and Mary Anne called the police. No arrests were ever made.
“I was panic-stricken,” she said. “The police said they'd increase patrol in the neighborhood. I don't know what that man was doing here.”
As for Sam, she believes she may have saved her life. The cat had been a stray, running around the neighborhood until Mary Anne decided to take her in.
First, she posted pictures of the cat, called shelters and veterinarians, trying to find an owner before adopting Sam herself.
“One day she came inside and looked all comfy. Nobody had claimed her, so I said, ‘Cat, you're mine now.'”
Sam doesn't particularly like men. She's also fiercely protective of Mary Anne.
After the break-in, the cat wouldn't get out of her bed for weeks, going as far as sleeping on top of her.
“I love her to death,” Mary Anne said. “She's a sweetheart for sure.”
Mary Anne isn't afraid anymore, but decided to add another weapon — besides her cat — to her arsenal of self-protection.
“I've got a solid brass candlestick by the bed that weighs a ton. If he or anybody comes back they'll get whacked. Believe me.”
This is the opinion of Susan Reinhardt. Contact her at sreinhardt@citizen-times.com.
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110403/COLUMNISTS16/304030016/1007/COLUMNISTS/Home-invasion-victim-tells-how-cat-saved-her-life
Time is healing her fear, and now she talks about that horrible night and the scrappy cat she believes saved her life.
“It was back in the fall,” she said. “A Tuesday night and a warm evening.”
The house felt stuffy, so Mary Anne decided to open the sliding glass door and just lock the screened portion.
She put on a fan to cool the room. And then she and Sam, the calico stray she took in, went to bed.
“It was the black of night,” she said. “I didn't look at the clock. The two of us were sleeping in the bed.”
Normally, Sam doesn't sleep with her. “Thank God, that night she was,” Mary Anne said.
The next thing she remembers is a man shaking her and yelling, “Wake up. Wake up.”
“He had dragged me out of bed, and I was screaming,” she said. “I saw in my peripheral vision something flying through the air.”
It was Sam. And she landed on the intruder's face, digging her claws into him with all of her 8-pound might.
The cat wouldn't let go as Mary Anne continued screaming.
“She hung onto him and his face with claws sharp as nails,” she said. “I saw him tighten his muscles when he tried to pull her off.”
She described her invader as a white male about 6 feet tall. When the cat finally released him, he fled, and Mary Anne called the police. No arrests were ever made.
“I was panic-stricken,” she said. “The police said they'd increase patrol in the neighborhood. I don't know what that man was doing here.”
As for Sam, she believes she may have saved her life. The cat had been a stray, running around the neighborhood until Mary Anne decided to take her in.
First, she posted pictures of the cat, called shelters and veterinarians, trying to find an owner before adopting Sam herself.
“One day she came inside and looked all comfy. Nobody had claimed her, so I said, ‘Cat, you're mine now.'”
Sam doesn't particularly like men. She's also fiercely protective of Mary Anne.
After the break-in, the cat wouldn't get out of her bed for weeks, going as far as sleeping on top of her.
“I love her to death,” Mary Anne said. “She's a sweetheart for sure.”
Mary Anne isn't afraid anymore, but decided to add another weapon — besides her cat — to her arsenal of self-protection.
“I've got a solid brass candlestick by the bed that weighs a ton. If he or anybody comes back they'll get whacked. Believe me.”
This is the opinion of Susan Reinhardt. Contact her at sreinhardt@citizen-times.com.
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110403/COLUMNISTS16/304030016/1007/COLUMNISTS/Home-invasion-victim-tells-how-cat-saved-her-life