Dragon’s Den star says she’s ‘lucky to be alive’ after ‘violent’ assault

A DRAGON’S Den star has said she’s “lucky to be alive” after suffering a “violent” assault which sparked the idea for her business. Dragon’s Den returned to BBC One for a new series on Thursday night and one of the contestants hoping to secure an investment was Louise Truman, the founder of Plotpackers – a group travel company for young backpackers. Louise Truman appeared on the latest episode of Dragon’s Den and opened up about suffering a violent assault She accepted offers from Deborah and Stephen Credit: BBC Introducing herself, she said: “For as long as I can remember growing up, all I wanted to do was travel. “And as much as that’s a cliche, I’m now 25 and my most treasured memories are from my adventures around the world and all of the incredible people I have met along the way. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! “But I am also no stranger to the dangers of travel, from the environmental toll to the personal safety risks that I’ve faced.” After Louise’s pitch, Dragon Peter Jones asked her to “explain” what risks she’d faced while travelling. She said: “I’m happy to address it. It is obviously a very traumatic thing. “I was sexually assaulted very violently and consider myself very lucky to be alive. As much as I don’t enjoy talking about it, it is a big reason why I did this. “It could have made me never travel again, but I’m glad it led to this. “Seventy percent of the people who travel with us are women and if you look at studies the primary concern of women when it comes to travelling is safety. Most read in TV After receiving offers from Deborah Meaden, Stephen Bartlett and Susie Ma, Louise asked Jenna Meek for advice before making her decision. She chose to pick two Dragons to work with – accepting offers of £60,000 for 5% of her business from Deborah and Stephen. Comment now