When Whangarei mum Cathy Holman withdrew money from a cash machine, she didn't expect to be robbed and badly injured.
Mrs Holman was the victim of a vicious daylight robbery on Monday. She is speaking out about her ordeal in the hope her attackers will be caught and to warn others to be more careful when using cash machines.
"It all happened so quickly," she said of the attack, which happened just seconds after she took money out of the machine at Maunu Shops.
She was left in extreme pain and nursing bruises and swelling from a suspected broken nose that was so sore after the attack it could not be X-rayed.
"I'd just got the money out and was putting it in my wallet when I heard somebody behind my say 'Excuse me, madam' or something like that. I think it was just to distract me," Mrs Holman said.
"The next thing I know the other one was ripping my wallet out of my hand. I grabbed it back and then he pushed me to the ground. I just went bang - bang on to my face."
She remembers blood starting to pour from her nose and calling for help, but as nobody was around she went into the nearby Unichem Pharmacy, where she received "wonderful" assistance from staff.
Police arrived within seconds and a police dog tracked the robbers' scent along an alley beside the shops, but lost the trail.
Mrs Holman was treated by St John Ambulance staff before being taken to nearby Whangarei Hospital.
She was recovering at home yesterday, but is in pain from her nose, which has now become infected.
Although she received horrendous injuries, she was thankful it wasn't an elderly woman attacked as "anything could have happened then".
She wanted to warn people to be more careful when they use a cash machine, although she said she wouldn't use one again, unless there were other people with her.
"You just don't expect that kind of thing to happen. I'm normally really careful, but it was a lovely sunny evening and it was the last thing I was expecting."
The two robbers were described as Maori, of medium height and build and aged in their late teens or early 20s. One was wearing a black jacket and the other a red jacket.
Anybody with information on the robbery, or who may have seen the two men running away, can contact Whangarei police on 430 4500 or contact the anonymous freephone Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.
- Mike Dinsdale of the Northern Advocate
