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Join Telegram Channel“I relinquished my Miss Universe title many years ago, and I remember walking off stage feeling like I had forgotten something,” Demi Tebow told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview.
She also survived a dramatic carjacking attempt and felt forever changed by those and other experiences. She has used what she learned to help others.
From Jacksonville, Fla., Tim Tebow's wife shared her efforts to find a stronger sense of self amid change, uncertainty and fear, and to help others do the same through a new book, “A Crown That Lasts.” (See the video at the top of this article.)
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“I forgot something, you know?” she said of her exit from the stage that day, after her term as Miss Universe ended.
“You know, you run out of a hotel room and you’re like, ‘Oh, I forgot something. Do I have my passport? Do I have my keys? Do I have my ring? Whatever it is.’ And you feel like you forgot something.
“I had to go through a process of untangling the roots of my identity, pulling out the weeds of doubt before I could plant new seeds of truth,” Demi Tebow told Fox News Digital. Her new book is called “A Crown That Lasts.” (Micah Kandros; W Publishing Group)
She added: “And I wasn't able to fully understand what I had forgotten on stage when I passed on my title for probably a year or two afterwards.”
Tebow said that after her one-year term (2017-2018) as Miss Universe ended, she “had to go through a process of untangling the roots of my identity, uprooting the weeds of doubt before I could plant new seeds of truth.”
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“Ultimately, I realized that I had left my identity on that stage next to my Miss Universe crown, because I had attached my worth, my value to the thing that I thought made me important, worthy.”
“I believe we are called to strive for excellence.”
She added: “As believers, I believe we are called to strive for excellence, to chase that office, that dream job, that next paycheck, that dream car, whatever it may be.”
And “it's not like any of those things are bad, but it's when we attach our identity to something temporary that we're walking a real tightrope.”
This is what inspired her new book, published this week, on August 13.
“My book is called ‘A Crown That Lasts,’ and while ironically my crown didn’t last, I know that through the process I’ve been through over the last few years, I’ve been able to find an identity that’s rooted not just in something, but in something eternal.”
“The main trigger was the terrible carjacking I was subjected to at gunpoint.”
After serving as Miss South Africa and Miss Universe, Tebow has been active as a philanthropist, entrepreneur and speaker, particularly helping other women understand how to handle dangerous scenarios after surviving a carjacking attempt.
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That's why she founded a project she calls the #Unbreakable campaign.
“‘Unbreakable’ came about when I really wanted to empower students to take care of themselves, to be preventative in certain situations,” she told Fox News Digital.
“‘Unbreakable’ came about when I wanted to empower students to take care of themselves, to be preventative in certain situations,” Tebow said in an interview with Fox News Digital. (Mica Kandros)
“Growing up in South Africa, unfortunately, women and children face severe domestic violence and abuse, and [this] It really broke my heart for women everywhere.
“It all started in my home country, and really what was the biggest catalyst for me to grow 'Unbreakable' and want to reach more women around the world was the horrific carjacking I experienced at gunpoint.”
She shared her experience in great detail.
Demi Tebow spoke to Fox News Digital about her life experiences that led her to get involved in charity and philanthropy. Her new book is called “A Crown That Lasts.” (Mica Kandros)
“Shortly after I won the Miss South Africa title, about three months later, I was on my way to an event as the official Miss South Africa… And I was stopped at a red light. And before I could blink, I was surrounded by five men, by several men, and some of them were armed.
“I knew I shouldn't go to the second destination.”
“You know, in a traumatic situation like that, it's hard to react. It's hard to know exactly what to do. But I knew two things. And that's because my dad made me take safe driving classes, self-defense workshops” earlier in his life.
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“In this traumatic situation, I knew that I should not go to the second destination, because whatever happens somewhere in the city center, in a dark alley with [maybe more people present] It won't be any better than here: in broad daylight, with rush hour traffic and hundreds of people around me.
“So I tried to run away. I tried to get out of the vehicle. The man sitting next to me grabbed me, pushed me into the vehicle and said, 'Get in, you're coming with us.'”
And that's when she remembered “the second thing,” she said.
Demi Tebow and her husband Tim Tebow have dedicated their time to helping others in need. (Tim Tebow Foundation)
“The throat. It's obviously deadly. So please, never try this at home. It's definitely for use in a life-threatening situation. But I hit him as hard as I could in the throat, and that gave me a split-second window of opportunity to escape.”
“It really shaped my heart to continue to fight for women around the world.”
“This incident was really dramatic,” she added. “But the most dramatic thing about this story is that I rushed down this avenue in broad daylight… No one stopped to help me.”
“I remember looking over my shoulder, not knowing if I was being chased and [about to be] “I was shot in the back, I didn't know what their intention was. I just knew it wasn't good.”
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“That moment really broke my heart and made me never want to be one of the [people behind] The many car windows I've banged on, begging, asking, screaming for help. I want to be the one girl who stops for me one day…to help someone in need.
“And, you know, I've dedicated the last two years of my life, and in a very important way, to using what I have where I am to serve people in need.”
Tim Tebow and Demi Tebow are active together in the fight against human trafficking. (Derek White/Getty Images)
And “it really shaped my heart to continue to fight for women around the world,” she said.
“It started with learning about what women in South Africa face, but it snowballed into learning about fighting human trafficking, fighting for survivors of human trafficking and being able to provide for them.
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“My husband and I, when we first met, you know, being from two different countries, we didn't necessarily have a lot in common, but we had a lot of determination in the fight against human trafficking.”
That is why, she said, for our two anniversaries this year, we have chosen to fight human trafficking in different ways by loving and caring for victims and survivors of human trafficking.
Every year, Tim Tebow has been enjoying his birthday at the beginning of August to help shine a light on the needs of others, as he has done in the past year, as he previously told Fox News Digital. The Tebows are working to raise awareness about the disturbing developments and growth of human trafficking — an industry estimated to be worth $150 billion, with some 50 million people trapped in servitude, Tebow and his team noted.
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More information about Demi Tebow's new book can be found here.