Brain injury result of bashing at traffic lights
‘‘She grabbed my ponytail and smashed my head against my window and punched me probably five times.’’
Deni Smart
A woman suffered brain damage, a fractured eye socket and cuts to her face in an unprovoked assault by a stranger while waiting at traffic lights.
Deni Smart, 29, was having a sip of Diet Coke while stopped at the lights near Christchurch’s Eastgate Shopping Centre about 5.30pm on May 30 after buying some shampoo when she noticed a woman approaching her passenger side door.
‘‘She just got in and she just said to me ‘you’re a f…… mongrel b….’ and she grabbed my ponytail and smashed my head against my window and punched me probably five times. I pleaded with her to stop and she wouldn’t.
‘‘I just didn’t know what was going to happen, was she going to steal my car? What were her intentions? I just submitted in terms of you can take whatever you like, I just don’t want longlasting injuries.
‘‘She then got out of my car, got into her car and just boosted off. It was just an unprovoked attack.’’
Smart did not realise how serious the injuries were until she pulled over and looked in the mirror.
‘‘My lip was bleeding and my face was swollen, I just like, oh s… this is just a random beating.’’
Her next memory was in an ambulance as she was being taken to Christchurch Hospital.
Smart has been referred to the concussion clinic at Burwood Hospital to get a better idea of the damage to her brain.
Eleven days after the incident Smart, the customer services manager for a community housing trust, said she was battling anxiety and trauma. She planned to sell her car out of fear the attacker would recognise it.
‘‘It’s really impacted every aspect of my life, I can’t work, I can’t really drive, I can’t really visit my friends, I can’t leave the house. The anxiety levels are pretty much next level.
‘‘I don’t like being alone, I have to make sure the doors are locked at all times. I get a bit of nightmares and a bit of flashback.’’
Smart was unsure why she was attacked but said it could have been road rage.
‘‘I hope she gets brought to justice.’’ A police spokeswoman confirmed an investigation into the assault was under way.
‘‘Inquiries are ongoing to identify and locate the offender.
‘‘Police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen this incident, or has information which may assist.’’
Anyone with information can phone police on 105 quoting file number 200530/7296, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.