A sailing tourist was ‘dragged’ along the street by ‘forceful’ robbers on scooters.
Sarah Hertens was horrifically pulled across the road after a pair of men attempted to snatch her bag.
The 51-year-old’s bag was wrapped around her arm as she was dragged 32ft down the rough street whilst her partner, Roel, was attacked by the other man.
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The terrified tourist claimed it felt like her arm was about to be ‘pulled out’ of its socket.
Sharing her traumatic experience online, the clip racked up an astonishing 536,000 views and over 2,900 likes.
“In that moment it genuinely felt like my arm could be pulled out,” Sarah, from Belgium, told Need To Know.
“We were approached by two men on a scooter, with their faces partially covered by scarves.
“They were very forceful and kept pulling hard on the bag.
“I fell to the ground and was dragged about 10 metres along the road while still holding on.
“At the same time my partner tried to help me, but he was held back by the second man and was punched in the face.”
The pair, who now live full time on their catamaran HeRo, have been exploring the Caribbean.
Their trip took a sour turn after attending the SXM Festival in Sint Maarten, where they were attacked on the 22 March – the last day of the event.
Fortunately, Sarah was able to hold onto her bag during the altercation, which left her with marks across her arm.
Sarah said: “Everything happens so fast and you just react, it’s pure adrenaline.
“It was only afterwards, when things calmed down, that the realisation hit.
“That’s when the fear came in, thinking about how it could have ended if they had been armed or if it had escalated further.
“Looking back, we feel very lucky that it didn’t.”
The bag contained all of their important items including the keys to their boat and bank cards.
Fortunately, the incident attracted attention from a number of locals who approached the scene with the two men fleeing empty handed.
Despite now being more ‘cautious’ the couple are very grateful for the help they received from the community.
Sarah said: “This experience has definitely made us more cautious, but it’s not our intention to put Sint Maarten in a negative light.
“What stayed with us just as much as the incident itself was how kind and concerned people were afterwards.
“Several locals came up to us, checked if we were okay and expressed how sorry they were that this had happened. That meant a lot.”
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