Pregnant woman stabbed during violent home invasion
PILATES instructor Pei-Jiun Cheah should have been calmly preparing for the joys of motherhood. Instead, she is in hospital recovering from six stab wounds just centimetres from her unborn child.
NSW
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PILATES instructor Pei-Jiun Cheah should have been calmly preparing for the joys of motherhood. Instead, she is in hospital recovering from six stab wounds just centimetres from her unborn child.
The 33-year-old was injured in a horrific and bloody fight with a teenage boy who allegedly broke into her Mt Colah home just before 9pm on Thursday.
Police allege the 14-year-old stabbed Ms Cheah repeatedly in the chest and abdomen.
It is believed the attack ended after she wrested the knife off him and he fled the leafy cul-de-sac.
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Ms Cheah, also an entrepreneur, stumbled next door to neighbour Mark Bolger’s house, dripping a trail of blood on the ground, and collapsed on his porch.
“She was totally distressed … she was saying ‘help me, help me’,” Mr Bolger said. “We tried to move her inside the house, she was so stressed she didn’t want to be moved.”
Mr Bolger and his wife wrapped Ms Cheah in blankets until paramedics arrived and she was rushed to hospital, where it is understood she remained in a stable condition last night.
“The most important thing is that she’s OK and the baby is OK,” Mr Bolger said.
Some neighbours ran to help after the attack, others locked their doors as the search for the attacker began.
A police helicopter descended on the adjacent sports field, where footballers were training oblivious to the drama, and about a dozen police and ambulance vehicles arrived.
The boy was arrested nearby an hour after the ordeal, bearing serious cuts to his hands.
Drops of blood could be seen in the gutter outside the two-storey home. He was taken to Hornsby Hospital under police guard for surgery.
Neighbours of the boy and his family were stunned by the allegations.
“They’re such a lovely family … They’re very hardworking parents,” one neighbour said.
It is understood Ms Cheah’s partner was away on Thursday night and she was home alone.
Detectives and forensics crews yesterday dusted for fingerprints throughout the two-storey crime scene in Gloria Close. A frame of flyscreen was off its rails at the back door. Inside lay bloodied clothes and there were red smears on the walls.
Staff at Mindful Movement Pilates studio in Hornsby — one of Ms Cheah’s two studios — were too distraught to speak about the attack yesterday, saying only they wanted people to pray for her.
Ms Cheah, who was in a stable condition last night, is an experienced physiotherapist who started the pilates and rehabilitation businesses after her own sporting injuries.
“Pei-Jiun has always been very active, playing basketball, volleyball, dancing ballet,” her online profile said.
“As a result she has had various injuries and understands the importance of treating not only the physical body, but also addressing mental and emotional states.”
