'I was abducted, nearly decapitated, disemboweled, raped - and survived'

Alison Botha has survived an unspeakable ordeal, one that would leave most people shattered beyond repair.

At just 27 years old, Alison was kidnapped and brutally gang-raped, suffering unimaginable physical trauma, including disembowelment, which left her clutching her intestines in a desperate bid to stay alive. Her attackers also left her with a semi-decapitated head, which "flopped backwards and almost rested between [her] shoulder blades".

Born and raised in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Alison was a high achiever, named head girl of her school in 1985, and described by her school as a girl of "utmost positivity and sound moral values". She was working as an insurance broker when her life took a devastating turn on December 18, 1994.

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After spending an evening with friends, Alison drove back to her house, parked her car, and was about to get out when she was ambushed.

As she reached for her laundry on the passenger seat, a blonde man, Frans DuToit, the son of a police officer, forced his way into the car. He threatened to kill her, claiming he just wanted to use the car for an hour, reports .

Alison felt "strangely immobilised" as DuToit made a chilling comment, "You live in number one don't you", which she perceived as a threat rather than a question.

Desperate to build a rapport with her kidnapper, Alison tried to engage with him, but he refused to talk about himself, saying "I'd rather not say anything about me."

When she offered to let him take the car, he chillingly replied that he "wanted company", according to Morbid.

After driving a distance from the town, Du Toit circled a crowd of people on the street twice, scanning for one face - Theuns Krugeras.

The short man, clad in black, approached the driver's door and climbed into the car. Du Toit, who had introduced himself under the false name "Clinton", adjusted the driver's seat forward as Krugeras got in, introducing Alison as "meet my friend Susan", another pseudonym.

They drove towards a suburb outside Port Elizabeth in eerie silence before Du Toit broke it with "Theuns doesn't speak good English."

Du Toit slowed the car near a wooded area and parked on the sand. Krugeras exited the car and Clinton proceeded to rape Alison.

Krugeras began to assault her too but abruptly stopped, exclaiming "no I can't do this" before accidentally shouting "Frans" at his accomplice. Alison remembered this name.

Frans then told Alison "If we take you into town now you'll go to the police". Du Toit followed up with "what do you think Oom Nick would want us to do with her."

Oom Nick is an Afrikaans reference to Satan.

Krugeras responded: "I think he wants us to kill her."

The duo forced Alison to remove her rings and clothes before Du Toit strangled her until she lost consciousness, apologising as he towered over her. Alison regained consciousness surrounded by rubbish, catching sight of a man's arm slashing in front of her face before making the horrifying realisation that he was slicing her throat.

She recounted the horrific moment, saying she could "could hear the flesh slit."

Later, it was determined the assailants had slashed her throat 16 times, leaving Alison on the brink of being decapitated.

The assault abruptly ended, and Alison managed to turn onto her stomach. She remembered: "I tried to hold my breath but I realised I had no control over my breathing - I moved my hand up to cover my neck - my whole hand disappeared into it, but it seemed to have worked - the sound was silenced."

Alison then pretended to be dead. One assailant questioned whether she was deceased, prompting the other to reply, "no one can survive that." Despite her grievous injuries, Alison resolved that justice must prevail; she wrote their names in the sand alongside, "I love mom."

She described her post-attack sensations: "It was as if I'd cut moorings. As I hovered there I recognised the person down below - I knew it was me and I felt such a strong connection to that bleeding mangled girl lying on her stomach."

In a desperate bid to survive, she noticed lights nearby, realising she was closer to the road than previously thought. Battling through the pain, Alison pushed herself onto her knees, reached for her stomach, and encountered something "tepid, wet and slimy".

To her shock, she saw her intestines hanging out from her abdomen.

She described the horrifying experience, saying "it was horrifying there was just so much of me on the outside. I tried to scoop it all up with my hands but everything just slithered away again."

She had been stabbed in the abdomen over 50 times and used a shirt to hold her intestines in place, while debris and broken glass cut into her hands and knees. Half of her thyroid was protruding from her neck.

She said at this point she realised if someone found her there would be a large trail of blood behind her and her friends and family would be heartbroken to know she had suffered in her last moments.

She added: "My head had flopped backwards and almost rested between my shoulder blades. I expected to feel something but was completely taken aback when my hand disappeared inside me almost like I had swallowed myself."

With one hand holding her head forward and the other keeping her intestines in place, she managed to make it to the middle of the road and lay horizontally so drivers had to stop.

Upon seeing the first car, she said she " frantically waved as fast as I could" - but the car swerved around her. The next thing Alison saw was a woman screaming and a young man kneeling over her.

It was 2.45 am by the time she was found - so her abduction to her discovery had taken only an hour and a half.

While at a bar with pals, Tiaan Eilerd stumbled across Alison in dire straits. As a veterinarian, he swiftly assessed her vital signs and managed to reposition her thyroid into her neck.

- Alison later named him her "lifeline". The vet was astounded she was still breathing, describing Alison as resembling a "creature straight out of a Dickens novel" due to the severe gash stretching nearly "almost ear to ear".

Tiaan's quick action in fixing her thyroid back saved her life.

Alison's abdomen had been viciously stabbed multiple times, compromising her internal organs and muscles. She recounted that one attacker expressed a grim intention to destroy her reproductive system deliberately.

In an astonishing twist of fate, she defied all odds to become a mother to two children later on.

Following extensive surgery, Alison found herself in the ICU. Meanwhile, word of her ordeal led to the discovery that the culprits were already out on bail for rape charges.

Both men confessed their adherence to Satanism and entered guilty pleas for kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder. It emerged that Du Toit had previously raped another victim but refrained from taking her life post-assault.

The pair were handed down life sentences without parole eligibility in 1995.

Faced with possible legal changes in 2012, Alison voiced her concerns: "can you imagine if just 100 lifers were reintroduced to society without rehabilitation."

Her efforts were pivotal, ensuring the felons remained behind bars.

However, on 4 July 2023, Du Toit and Krugeras were granted parole after serving only 28 years of their life sentences, leaving Alison Botha uninformed. Taking to her page Alison expressed her dismay: "The day I hoped and prayed would never come. When I was asked 'How will you feel if they ever get parole?' – my immediate answer was always – 'I'm hoping I'll never find out.'".

Having recounted her traumatic experience and remarkable survival in her book "I Have Life", Alison's story has now been adapted for the big screen in a movie titled "Alison", which made its debut in August this year. She has dedicated herself to speaking to numerous audiences, conveying a message of how attitude, belief, and choice are key to overcoming adversity.

For her exceptional bravery, Alison received the distinguished Rotarian Paul Harris Award for 'Courage Beyond the Norm', and within that same time frame, she became the inaugural recipient of Femina magazine's 'Woman of Courage' accolade and was selected as Port Elizabeth's Citizen of the Year.

At the release of her biographical film, Alison remarked: "'I have always hoped that by sharing my own journey with others, it would give them hope and courage for their own. To have my story and ultimate triumph shared on screen, would mean that so many more people would see the power of choice that we each have; and might also choose to triumph over life's hardships".

Aside from her professional duties, Alison asserts that her most significant role is being a single mother to her two sons. In recognition of her unwavering dedication to enabling others to rise above their situations, tackle life's challenges and remain resilient in the face of adversity, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is proud to bestow upon Alison Botha the Council Prestige Award.