‘I forgive them . . . my heart is so soft’
Beaten and robbed, but gran prays attackers can turn their lives around.
She is still recovering from a brutal carjacking — but Nancy Voon, 66, has forgiven the teenage girls who put her through a terrifying ordeal and hopes they can turn their lives around.
The offenders included 18-year-old Lily Pritchard-Davis, who was sentenced to four-and a half years jail after a crime spree which saw her face 28 separate charges.
“They are still young. I hope they can change everything and walk back to the light.”
In an at-times tearful interview, and with her beloved granddaughter sitting next to her, Voon spoke exclusively to the Herald on Sunday about the day her life was turned upside down. But also about the power of forgiveness, a vital quality if we wanted to “have a good heart”.
And the committed Christian said: “Jesus [tells] us we have to forgive everyone. They can change their life.”
Voon also wanted to show her gratitude to wellwishers for their love and kindness. “Many thanks to them,” Voon said to those from all over who sent flowers to her hospital bedside and messages of support.
Voon’s nightmare began late on the morning of September 14, at a carpark outside Lagoon Leisure Centre in Panmure. She was waiting for her son Sang Phua, who had popped into the centre to collect table tennis equipment.
She noticed a car pull up and thought the occupants were about to ask her something.
But two teens who got out embarked on something much nastier.
Voon said she was pulled from her car, and asked “where is your bag?”. When she didn’t tell them, she said she was threatened with a screwdriver.
The petite grandmother said she didn’t put up a fight. The girls were a lot bigger than her. She said she told them to take her handbag with her driver’s licence, phone and family photos inside.
But Voon, paralysed with fear — “my mind was just empty” — was punched twice to the head and kicked as she fell to the ground.
Nothing was said during the attack, she said.
“After I fall down they just take my car and drive away.”
Voon said she noticed blood “from my nose all [over] my clothes”, and began vomiting from pain.
She was in Auckland Hospital for a week. Her nose was broken, her teeth chipped, she had severe concussion and a black eye.
When she first saw herself in the mirror, “I feel sad”.
She was “quite shocked” to learn the girls involved were teenagers.
“But I forgive them. I always for-
They are still young . . . I hope they can change everything . . . and walk . . . back to the light. Nancy Voon, carjacking victim
give. My heart is so soft. I hope they can change their lives”.
An outpouring of support from family, friends, her church and the community lifted her spirits and willed her to get better.
Police had received dozens of calls with information after they released CCTV footage and hundreds shared the link to the Facebook video.
Voon was also inspired in her recovery by the bravery and determination of granddaughter Tiffany, 12, who spent much of her first three years in a ward not that far away, in Starship Children’s Hospital.
Family would stay by her hospital bedside, including Voon — sometimes for a week at a time.
Voon, who moved to New Zealand with husband William Phua and their four children from Malaysia in 1991, even taught her granddaughter Mandarin from age 2. Tiffany’s health had improved since a bone marrow transplant at age 5.
Voon took “a few months” to recover from her injuries. But she said she has to take medication to stave off recurring headaches.
And she sometimes felt unsafe now when going out.
Phua, with whom she had owned a factory and restaurant in Otahuhu, died in 2012. She misses him badly.
Voon wanted to thank supporters and the doctors and nurses who helped her back to health.
And she also had a message for the teens who put her through her ordeal. She hopes God will help them turn their lives around, so they “don’t do any [further] bad things” and have “a bright future”.