British couple knifed by robbers in a hike on Table Mountain
A BRITISH couple suffered horrific knife wounds when they were stabbed repeatedly by robbers on a hiking trip to South Africa’s Table Mountain.
Expats Don and Yvonne Cormack were forced to fight for their lives after the gang pounced on them.
Mr Cormack, 71, needed hospital treatment after being knifed nine times, while his 67-year-old wife was cut in the head as she tried to defend him.
The gang struck as the couple, originally from Harlow, Essex, enjoyed one of their favourite beauty spots with a party of seven other walkers.
One of their party was in a critical condition in hospital yesterday after being smashed in the face with a rock.
Mrs Cormack said: “We are lucky to be alive.”
Describing how the horror unfolded last weekend at Kalk Bay, a scenic coastal area in the Table Mountain national park, near Cape Town, she said: “The guys came running at us with knives. They told us to throw our phones and bags to the ground. Next they started attacking Don, stabbing him nine times all over his body.
“I took a stick and started hitting at a robber, then he started stabbing me too. He stabbed me in my arm and the back of my head.
“I screamed at Don to give him his bag, which Don did and I also gave them mine. Then they attacked Don again.
“The other robber followed one of the other hikers, who ran to get a phone signal to call for help. His face was brutally damaged after he was hit with a rock. Doctors operated on him for four hours. Another hiker’s face was also smashed with a rock.”
The gang fled while some of the hikers Facebook picture of Yvonne and Don Cormack, originally from Harlow, in Essex, who were attacked, stabbed and robbed on a hike in the Table Mountain national park went to summon help, leaving Mrs Cormack to look after her husband and the man hit with the rock. She added: “I have been hiking on the mountain for two years and it is the first time something like this has happened.”
Mr Cormack was airlifted to hospital, where he is awake and able to speak.
But he only has a vague memory of the attack.
Police have arrested two men over the robbery and stepped up security around the national park.