One brave woman is helping others learn self-defense after surviving a very frightening gym attack.

Twenty-four-year-old Nashali Alma lives in Tampa, Florida. Recently, she was working out at the gym in her apartment complex when a fellow tenant in the building came into the space and attacked her. As the man was trying to grab Nashali and chase her around the gym, she put up a fight and got away. And the scary incident was caught on the security camera.

Now, Nashali has teamed up with Youfit Gyms and instructor Jason Bleistein to help teach self-defense classes to other women. And Nashali also shared about her terrifying attack to show others how she was able to get away.

“He kept coming toward me, so we ended up here around the bench, where he was on the other side here, and we were going back and forth. I was trying to create some space,” said Nashali.

“When she ran, she put a bench between her and the attacker and used obstacles, which we teach all the time,” added instructor Jason Bleistein. “She was making it very clear, ‘Get off of me!’”

Then Nashali talked about the part of the attack that was not caught on the security camera. “He tries to put me in a chokehold, and I wiggle out of that, and I was able to elbow him in the face, and I grabbed his beard hairs. I see that he’s hurt, so that’s when I was able to get up, and I just ran out the door.”

“I wasn’t fearful,” she continued. “It was more like, ‘I won’t let this man touch me.’ It was just all instinct to react to it, fight back, be vocal, fight!”

Way to never give up, Nashali! And how wonderful it is that she is now teaching these helpful skills to other women.

“When you’re in these situations, you know, a lot of people freeze,” Nashali said. “But if you take these classes, you get to gain the confidence and the empowerment to fight back.”