Florida legend Tim Tebow's wife Demi recalls "traumatic" encounter with carjacker in 2017: "Had a gun pointing to my head"

Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow married his wife Demi-Leigh Tebow in 2020 in a lavish ceremony in Franschhoek, South Africa. The couple has dedicated their time to philanthropic acts for various charitable causes over the course of their marriage.

During a recent interview on "The Squeeze" with actor Taylor Lautner, Demi-Leigh, a former Miss South Africa and Miss Universe, revealed the traumatic experience that she experienced during a carjacking incident in 2017.

"A few months after I was crowned Miss South Africa, I was on my way to an event two blocks away from my apartment back then," Demi said. "I stopped at a red light, got surrounded by multiple men, had a gun pointing to my head.

"I immediately surrendered, got out of the vehicle, and tried running away, but when I tried running away, the man on my side of the vehicle grabbed me by my wrist, 'Get in, you're going with us.'

"Instincts kind of just kicked in at the moment. Never go to the second destination. Running up that avenue in my six-inch high heels, having a gun pointed at my head, the terror in my eyes, looking over my shoulders, not knowing if my perpetrators were gonna be shooting me in the back."

The full episode of the podcast is set to come out on Wednesday.

Tim Tebow and his wife share a life of philanthropy

Tim Tebow and Demi-Leigh Tebow met in 2018 during the Tim Tebow Foundation’s annual event that aimed to raise money for people with various special needs. They got engaged in 2019 and tied the knot in 2020.

During an interview with Us Weekly, the former two-sport athlete revealed how the pair met.

“Demi had a little sister with severe special needs. [She] was kind of our matchmaker,” Tebow said. “Demi and her family were invited [to Night of Shine], but unfortunately her sister was too sick to go. But through that, we connected and never stopped talking.”

Demi-Leigh's sister, Franje, suffered from cerebellar agenesis and she died a year after the event that brought the couple together.

The couple rarely connected after a language barrier issue almost led to miscommunication. Demi-Leigh's first language was Afrikaans, and the former Florida Gators quarterback mistook their parting exchange as a dismissal, as revealed in a Us Weekly interview.

"Loving in a second language is different,” Demi-Leigh said. “Remember the first time after our first date, I told you, ‘Keep well,’ and you thought I was dismissing you?”

Tim Tebow and Demi-Leigh have since embarked on extensive philanthropic work, especially targeting people with special needs and working with the authorities in the fight against human trafficking.