A pensioner who has leukaemia was left with horrific bruising after she stopped thieves stealing her mobility scooter, police said.
Ida Brown, 79, was confronted by two men at around 5.30am on Sunday at the back door of her home in Dunston, Gateshead, and she was shoved into a wall.
They ran off, leaving her distraught on the floor with an injured knee and severe bruising around her eyes.
Ms Brown had been woken up by her cat – named Henry VIII due to his size – and went to see what the disturbance was at the back of her home on Ross Avenue, where she lives alone.
She said: “They didn’t manage to steal my scooter but I can just remember them running away and shouting ‘we’ll be back’.
“I have leukaemia and just had a pacemaker fitted in my heart before all this happened so I do need my mobility scooter to get me around.
“My knee is really painful and I couldn’t open my eye for a few days afterwards.
“My neighbours have been really supportive and Henry is a good guard cat, but it is scary knowing that they could come back.
“I know I won’t be opening my door to anyone again because I don’t want to put myself in that position.
“I just hope that the police manage to catch the people who did it because there are lots of elderly people round here and I don’t want anyone to go through what I had to.”
Northumbria Police is investigating the robbery and Inspector Alan Davison called on the community to look at photos of the pensioner’s injuries and put forward the names of those responsible.
He said: “This is an abhorrent attack on a vulnerable pensioner in her own home and we are determined to find those responsible.
“The mobility scooter would clearly belong to someone with a vulnerability and I find it appalling that anyone would try to take it away from someone in need.
“To then shove an elderly woman into a wall, and cause the level of injury that they have done, is beyond comprehension and I know the wider community will share our anger.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 101.
