SEATTLE - Patricia Paschal used her self defense skills June 2, on her 68th birthday, as she walked home from the Southeast Seattle Senior Center in the Rainier Valley.
Paschal sensed someone was close behind her and, when she turned around, a young man grabbed her shoulders.
She had just recently learned how to handle the situation after one class of self-defense at the senior center.
Paschal started hitting the young man. He backed off in surprise, but returned to the attack. Paschal had pulled out a kitchen knife that she carries in her purse as she walks through the Rainier Valley. Seeing the knife the man once again backed off.
"I kept calm. That's what Mark told us to do." said Paschal, speaking about her self-defense instructor, Mark Bryant.
"She did the right thing." said Bryant, who has taught the class for five years at the senior center. "The attacker thought he was attacking an easy target, a vulnerable old woman, she surprised him."
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