- Arana Taumata ran to the aid of a woman
- Woman was pushed and pinned to the ground
- The police are looking for the attacker
Former soccer star Arana Taumata has revealed how he saved a young girl in distress at Brisbane’s Mount Coot-Tha.
Taumata, 35, who played for Penrith, Canterbury and North Queensland, was sprung into action during a lunchtime run on Friday afternoon when he spotted a woman in her 30s lying on the ground.
He ran to the woman’s aid to find out what had happened.
She was on the ground, stunned. And I was like, ‘Shit, are you okay?’ I thought she had slipped,” Taumata said.
“She was like, ‘No, someone pushed me, someone had me on the ground, someone had me on the ground.’
Arana Taumata has revealed how he saved a woman from a savage attack
The woman, in her 30s, confronted a man dressed in black, who knocked her down and pinned her down.
‘Now I’m in hunting mode. Where is this dog? Where is the?! ‘ Taumata said in a video he recorded of himself while he was still on the road.
Reflecting on the incident, Taumata told 7NEWS that the alleged perpetrator was nowhere to be seen.
‘He said the guy ran towards me, which I thought was quite strange, because I would have seen him. I thought he would have hidden in the bushes,” Taumata said.
‘For me, it was just instinct. You’re going to help someone if they’re on the ground.
Fellow walkers shared their surprise at the incident on Friday afternoon.
‘I think it would be absolutely horrible; “It would be quite scary, shocking,” one told 7NEWS.
Another said: “You should be able to walk through these areas and feel comfortable and not threatened.”
Taumata enjoyed a brief NRL career with Canterbury, Penrith and the Cowboys.
A Queensland Police spokesman said no one had been arrested and investigations were ongoing. The woman suffered minor injuries.
Authorities are not linking the attack to reports of a man attempting to sexually assault another woman on a different Mount Coot-Tha track last month at this time.
State Labor MP Jonty Bush issued an urgent message following the incident.
“We need to get more comfortable having uncomfortable conversations with people about their attitudes and approaches toward women,” Bush told 7NEWS.
