Horrifying.
Lisa Fallon has been getting a lot of praise for her appearance on Friday night’s Late Late Show after she opened up about a terrifying experience from her teenage years.
The sports legend told host Ryan Tubridy of an incident in 1995 where she was “held in a car” by a man she did not know when coming home from a night out.
“He held me by my hair so I couldn’t get out,” she said.
“He drove to a field and, when I was sitting in the car, all I could see was this gate in front of the car, and there was a bar missing.
“I just kept thinking: ‘I can get through that gate, I can get through that gap in the gate’.”
She explained how she made an attempt to escape but the man caught her and dragged her back to the car, threatening to kill her as she had gotten a glimpse of his face.
“I told him my name was Jennifer. I didn’t want him to know who I was,” Fallon said.
“I just promised him that I couldn’t remember his face and that if he just let me go that I wouldn’t tell anybody.
“And then he stopped the car and he just told me to get out.”
Fallon went on to say that it took her a long time to get over the horrific incident and noted that something like this “changes you as a person”.
She explained that it took her a long time to wear a dress again or to go to the hairdressers as she hated people touching her hair as the man had.
Viewers on Twitter were taken back by the sports analyst’s interview and praised her for speaking out and for her bravery.
One person wrote: “Lisa Fallon. Inspiration to us all. Not just young girls, females. Not just the footballing circles, but again…to us all.”
Another said: “Have to commend Lisa Fallon for being such a powerful woman not just in the world of sport but in the everyday world as well. What a harrowing experience. Can’t imagine the fear she must have felt in that car and in that field of thistles. Her bravery is admirable.”
A third wrote: “Lisa Fallon is a credit to Ireland – a gifted communicator who gives all who read/hear her an incredible insight into the game and into life. Would stand in the snow to listen to her.”
A fourth said: “Lisa Fallon is impressive talented and humble, hats off.”
You can watch a clip from the interview below.
Clip via The Late Late Show
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