A woman has recounted how a stranger rescued her from a sexual assault on a train decades ago by pretending to be a friend. The incident occurred when she was 19, travelling alone from drama school in the evening.
She boarded an empty carriage, but an older man sat next to her, blocking her exit. He commented on her appearance and began rubbing her thigh. When she tried to stand, he pressed his hand down on her leg and placed another on her shoulder.
As panic set in, a young man walked down the aisle and sat opposite her, cheerfully greeting her as 'Mandy' and asking about 'university'. Realising the ruse, she played along with a fabricated conversation about university life.
The harasser withdrew his hand and moved away. When the train arrived at her station, she fled without thanking her rescuer, only waving from the platform as the train departed with both men still aboard.
The woman, now older, said the clever intervention was a 'life raft' in a time when she would not have pressed an emergency button. She hopes the young man knew how grateful she was.
