Black belt nurse turns tables on attacker

Relevant offers

Australia

Thousands still in danger from Australian flooding Gillard coup rumours 'a huge beat up' Syrian embassy in Canberra damaged Floods ravage two Australian states Two die in NSW helicopter crash NSW to ban tanning salons Record breaking floods swamp Queensland Kiesha's stepdad enters guilty plea Frustrated murderer refused parole bid Man jailed for AIDS extortion attempts

An Australian nurse with a black belt in martial arts has turned the tables on her assailant, breaking his arm when he tried to steal her car.

Nurse Beth Gascoine, 28, has been praised by police after fending off the violent knife attack in an empty Mermaid Beach car park yesterday.

The mother of two, who works metres away at a local medical clinic, was getting something out of her car, when she was approached by a tall stranger.

"I noticed him, but I didn't pay any attention to him and he just walked over and said 'Give me your keys'," she told AAP.

"And I just went 'Yeah, right', which looking back, was probably the wrong reaction and he got out the knife and came at me.

"It was purely instinctive ... I blocked it with my right arm, grabbed his other arm with my left, then grabbed his right again and quite possibly broke it.

"I'm pretty sure I hurt him and he dropped straight to the ground."

Making good her escape, Ms Gascoine ran back to the clinic and called police.

The man was gone by the time they arrived.

Sporting six stitches on a gash to her wrist, she said things could have turned out differently if she had not been able to defend herself.

Ms Gascoine was a black belt in the martial art of Zen Do Kai about 10 years ago.

"It could have been a lot worse, (but) I don't feel like the victim," she said, while urging all women to undergo some form of self-defence training.

"I'm quite happy with the way I reacted ... (the fear) came a bit later."

Back at work a day later, Ms Gascoine holds out hope the offender will be caught - especially if he seeks treatment for his injured arm.

- AAP