Wallabies World Cup winner, and Tonga coach, Toutai Kefu, has revealed the horrifying details of the home invasion where he was stabbed and his wife seriously injured by a machete blow.
The 1999 World Cup team member Kefu, also watched his children caught up in the robbery gone horribly wrong.
His wife Rachel almost had her arm severed by a machete blow. His son Josh, 21, was also attacked and nearly suffered a punctured lung.
Kefu suffered deep abdomen wound that needed seven hours of surgery. And with a sliced liver, broken ribs and heavy bleeding his injuries were considered life-threatening at first.
Now on the road to recovery, Kefu has told the story of the attack to the Daily Mail.
Kefu said the first sign of danger was when he heard Rachel scream.
“She screamed, so I knew something was wrong,” Kefu said.
“I was shocked at the age of the kids — how young and small they were.
“They were looking for car keys. It’s been common in the area; car thefts. I think the kids were quite agitated when they saw me, because of the size of me. Then when my son came down, who is 21 and the same size as me; that really escalated things. One of the kids was happy to leave, but the other one just went crazy.
“We actually backtracked and said, ‘Look, there’s the front door, here are the keys — go’. I said that because one of them had a machete and the other had a knife. If they were a bit older and more mature, they may have left. But they were young and could have been on drugs. They panicked.
“The bigger one did all the damage with his machete. He lunged at my wife and got her arm. I had a knife by then, but I put that down, grabbed a stool and charged them. That’s when my son came down and it ended up that he had one and I had another. There was blood everywhere. The scene was unbelievable, it was horrific.
“The one that I had ran away and slipped at the front door. I chased him, then my neighbour came up the front steps, we got the knife off him and pinned him down. My neighbour held him down then I went to help my son, but that guy had got away. My son had got the machete off him. There was fear in the kid’s eyes when my son stood up with the weapon and he bolted out the window.”
Kefu said the incident happened quickly and adrenaline took over.
“We went into attack mode,” Kefu said. “We’re proud people — we’ll stand up for ourselves. I didn’t even realise I was stabbed until the whole ordeal was over. I was bleeding profusely. When we were waiting for the police and the ambulance to arrive, I was sat on the ground applying pressure to my wound with a towel, but it just wouldn’t stop bleeding.
“The worst wound was my wife’s, where they had cut down to the bone and severed all the tendons and nerves. I got a sliced liver and my son almost had his lung punctured by the machete, but he was OK.”
Kefu thanks well wishers from around the world that have strengthened the family in their recovery.
“We felt loved,”’ said Kefu. “It has really helped us to heal.”
But he acknowledged there were deep mental scars from the incident.
“We’re further down that road than I thought we would be,” said Kefu.
‘My wife sees a psychologist every week and I’ve had a couple of conversations with a professional — explaining what we are going through. He assured me it is normal and it will get better. It was traumatic, but we’re handling it.”
piru
Roar Rookie
There's no one answer unfortunately, every case is different.
piru
Roar Rookie
So glad they're ok. Can only imagine the terror these little scumbags must have felt when they saw Toutai and Josh Kefu ready to deal with them.
Aussieinexile
Roar Rookie
Adding another name here as a well-wisher. All the best to Kefu and his family’s full recovery,
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
You'll note that I suggested they could pay the players directly without any administrators getting involved.
RahRah
Roar Rookie
A hideous experience suffered by the Kefu family. My best wishes for a full recovery both mentally and physically. The home invaders we refer to as “kids” aren’t really so anymore. It’s an unfortunate consequence of modern life that children lose their innocence much too early. Couple this with it now being fashionable not to discipline children and we see the result.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Thank god he and his family survived. Kefu was lucky to survive and I wish all of them a speedy recovery but this will be with them for life. It is time the police treated these kids as more than just kids stealing cars if they can do this kind of damage to a family. There is a limit to compassion and these kids, and kids like them are beyond it.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
sounds like the Kefu's have already forgiven them, hope the rest of society doesn't and treats them like pariahs and the scum that hey are each time they see them in public.
AndyS
Guest
Perhaps, but if so, as you say an exception. Or maybe, depending on which Mandela? Back on (rugby) point though, I wouldn't bet on things being that much different anywhere, including Australia. The overhead for professional rugby seems disproportionate here, so while the snouts in the trough might be slightly less obvious and political, human nature is the same all over. As the saying goes, other things float to the top besides cream.
Art3mis
Roar Rookie
Rare for humility to trump entitlement. Which is what made Mandela so exceptional.
Dean
Roar Rookie
A horrible situation for the Kefu’s. Their consideration and compassion for the offenders is truly amazing. What an amazing family. Here is hoping they can manage (it will never heal) their trauma soon.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
"but surely" - nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Not so surely JD Kiwi. I did a short course in the islander power hierarchy during a Sevens tournament here about a decade ago - the big men who are due a tribute, their place in the queue and the difficulty they can impose on the family back home if their entitlement is not dignified. The deference afforded to the government members and their wives with well paid government jobs was a sight to see. I spent some time with a Polynesian sports minister and treasurer and minister for something else whose wife was CEO of a tourism department, which had them touring the world for no good reason, at taxpayers (overseas benefactors, World Bank, Useless Nations) expense. An imperious wave of the hand had lackeys scurrying about to fetch their food and drinks and whatever else. I think he was officially "team manager" which meant he did nothing. I first encountered the phenomenon with the Fijian top enders at the Hong Kong Sevens 30 years ago - astonishing stuff. I see whitey getting a rubbishing in some comments - you simply cannot underestimate the number of locals with their hand out whenever someone from back home lands on his feet financially in some other part of the world. :happy: Practices are similar in my wife's home country - the ruling class is the peoples own worst enemy.
Soap Dodger
Roar Rookie
Certainly not trivial, I agree. But I still agree with those who say that, because of the age of the alleged offenders, not much will happen.
Woodsman
Roar Rookie
They will spend some time in youth detention bragging about their exploits. Then because certain people preach rehabilitiation over punishment they will carry on with their lives while the victims relive their terrors nightly.
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
>"Not much will happen" The charges do include attempted murder, which is not trivial. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-19/qld-fourth-teen-charged-over-toutai-kefu-attack/100391992 Some google-fu reveals that home is Goodna, Springfield Lake, and Browns Plains.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Great post JD, Island Rugby in general is also being held to ransom by WR, white collar pillages.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Wise words indeed my friend!
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
Thanks for recommending the link Harry, normally I wouldn't click on a DM story. So much stinks about how Tonga and others are treated. The prevarication on whether they should be allowed to cap players "captured" by a tier one country. How they are supposed to be grateful for the RFU help to fulfill the fixture, yet the English will be making millions from the match. (Under the "reciprocal tours" arrangement they get to keep all the income from home tests, but they never play in the islands. How reciprocal is that?) Then you read about how those playing for French clubs lose out on income. How is this allowed? Remember money transfers from these guys will be relied on by extended family back home. I know there's talk of the misuse of money by administrators, but surely something could be set up to help the players directly. From World Rugby funds, the hosting team, or a levy on their clubs. This can't be allowed to continue.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
AtW… You are correct! We are a complex species that think they know better. But fall flat compared to more intelligent animals/mammals.
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
Regrettably, that was the short-term outcome. Long-term it was found that the cohort had worse outcomes ie crime, back in prison. There's a lot of counter-intuitive things happen in this space, and it's controversial, right through to study design. I just figure we are complex creatures.
PeterK
Roar Guru
repeat offenders should be mandatory juvenile detention. serious crimes they then go to prison when they turn 18.