Girl Shares Safety Tip That Saved Her Life as a Teen – Her Cop Stepdad Taught Her

A 19-year-old girl went viral after sharing an account of a disturbing encounter with a hotel intruder when she was 15. She escaped unscathed thanks to a life hack she picked up from her stepdad.

Four years after narrowly escaping a face-off with hotel intruders, a 19-year-old girl is sharing the devastating ordeal in hopes that others may learn from it.

Taking to TikTok, Josie Bowers from Canada recounted the experience which happened during her stay at the Ocean City Hilton in Maryland when she was 15.

Bowers, who was vacationing at the hotel with her family, was in the room alone on that fateful day while the rest of the family were at the beach.

Just as she stepped out of the shower in her towel after taking a bath, she noticed a thin metal wire moving into the room through the crack at the bottom of the door.

As she watched stupefied, the wire which had a hook at the tip made its way upwards towards the door handle. It finally hooked the handle and pulled down, causing the door to give way.

Before the intruders could push the door open and enter the room, Bowers sprung into action, rushing to the door, slamming it shut, and putting on the deadbolt.

Immediately she secured the lock, the intruders pretended to be part of the hotel's maintenance team, who came around to fix the lock. She explained how they told her the keycard was broken and that they were there to fix it but needed to gain access into the room to do so.

Filled with doubt, Bowers opened the door a little to take a sneak peek at the men, only that they wore jeans and T-shirts, a far cry from the employees' uniforms.

Seeing that the intruders were determined to break in at all cost, the teenager recalled a tip she learned from her stepdad, who was a police officer, and decided to put it into action. She recalled:

"I yelled, 'Hey dad, there's someone here to fix the door.' As soon as they thought I wasn't alone, and potentially my dad was there, they ran, they were gone."

That was how Bowers' stepdad's advice, to never let people know she was alone, saved her life. The teenager accompanied her video account of the incident with a clip of a man breaking into an apartment using the method the intruders used four years ago.

In the final part of the TikTok video, she explained her reason for sharing the experience with the world, saying she wanted to teach people about it. The girl also left an important piece of advice that could be helpful, urging people to always utilize deadbolts and door stoppers.

The four-part video racked millions of views, with several netizens reacting to the post. While most commended her for reacting in the nick of time, others chastised her for not taking action sooner. A TikToker offered:

"I would have grabbed that thing and ripped it from under the door and slammed the door on his hands."

Many users wondered why the intruders bothered using the wire-lie equipment when the door could easily be opened by the handle.

In response, Bowers shared a video update, explaining that the doors at Hilton Hotel only opened from the inside when locked. Many users commended her for thinking smart in the face of danger.

Following the teenager's explanation that she had no service on her cellphone at the time, a TikToker reminded her that emergency lines always went through even in the absence of network services. That's certainly an important safety tip that could come in handy in the future.