Cape Town - An elderly woman who was attacked at the entrance of Our Lady of Good Hope Catholic church in Sea Point in February will “never be the same independent person” again, her daughter Melissa Phillips said.
The Durban resident, Joyce Maria Hansen, 85, was staying at her holiday home in Sea Point, and was walking to church, when an assailant ripped her gold chain from around her neck.
Phillips, 55, said: “She set foot in the entrance gates, and obviously these four guys had sussed her out and followed her. One was ahead of her and one right behind her, she didn’t even see them and she was standing on the opposite road.
“They were very slick – had (probably) done it millions of times before – and as she stepped into the gate, he just grabbed her from behind. (He) Just took her gold chain. It was all they wanted.
“She fell straight backwards and landed on her head and then he casually strolled away like it was a Sunday afternoon stroll and left her bleeding and unconscious, at 85,” she said.
Phillips said after receiving the call, she immediately hopped on a plane from Durban and came to her mother’s aid. She said a woman whom she remembers only as “Shireen” tried to assist while Hansen lay on the ground.
“She didn’t know who she was but there was an angel who had looked after my mom and stayed with her from the church, who didn’t know my mom from a bar of soap and stayed with her for 6-7 hours.”
She said Hansen remained in hospital for 8 nights and suffered from a brain bleed. “She could’ve been dead … Six nights in the ICU and two nights in the surgical ward.”
Phillips obtained CCTV footage and inundated the Sea Point police station with calls. She then took to social media and posted the footage online to warn others of the danger.
Recently, Phillips was in Cape Town for her daughter’s graduation and checked in with the Sea Point police station.
“I decided I would just march in there … and I ask if I could see them in person and he said, ‘they’re in Pollsmoor Prison and there weren’t four of them, there were eight of them’ and they got all eight of them … they were a gang … four under 18 and four adults,” she said.
While Phillips is pleased the suspects were arrested, she said as a family they’re “angry” because Hansen has not been the same.
“She couldn’t remember what side of the bed she sleeps on, she doesn’t know how to work the washing machine, she doesn’t know how to knit anymore. She couldn’t walk properly, we had to get a walker and everything has regressed, so she’s not the person that went to Cape Town,” Phillips said.