A GLENMORE grandmother who considers herself quite alert and aware of criminal elements was caught by surprise and robbed by three men after a shopping trip recently.
Still recovering from the traumatic ordeal, Irene Pool felt obligated to share her traumatic attack with the community in the hope that others would be more wary. “I want to advise everybody that these people keep a watch on your movements for long time before they attack,” she explained.
On the fateful day, Pool went to town to purchase some groceries and on her return in the early afternoon, she opened her remote gate, parked her car in front of her garage meters from her front door and the door with high gate closed behind her.
“I got out the car and carried two bags of groceries to my door, unlocked it with my keys. As I pushed the sliding gate open, I was pushed from behind with such force that I landed on the floor on my face and stomach with the groceries splattering on the floor. One man went straight into the bedroom looking for jewellery, while the other stayed with me. He told me to keep quiet and not look at their faces. Then he grabbed the cable from my laptop to tie my feet together and put his knee and full weight on my back to do this. I winced in pain and again told me to keep quiet and not to look up into their faces,” Pool explained.
When the second man returned from her bedroom with some of her jewellery, he grabbed her hands to tie them with cables. “They asked me where my remote for the gate and car keys were and I told them they were still in the car. It was only then that I realised there was a third person because I heard my car start. The two with me, grabbed my laptop and cell phone and left. My handbag with my purse with R700 in it, plus my ID and and cards was still in the car,” the 72-year-old grandmother said.
After the robbers left with Pool's car, she managed to loosen her hands from the cables and undid the ties at her feet. “Fortunately they left the main security gate open so I could get out because if not I would have been lying there until my daughter came home from work that night. I ran to the street and saw a man in a vehicle a few houses away. When I got to him he reassured me and said he had already called the police and security company. I was so happy to see him and put my arms around him and just broke down crying,” she said.
The neighbour returned to Pool's home with her and asked for her daughter's number. “I had no idea what it was at the time because I had it on my cellphone but then remembered I did have an address book, and realise how important it is to still write down important numbers,” she advised.
Within fifteen minutes, her house was surrounded by police and Blue Security vehicles. “I was taken to hospital per ambulance for x-rays to be taken of my back and neck. Fortunately only muscles were bruised, but I had blue bruise marks on my arms and hands for days. The shock of the event only hit me about four hours later and about four days later I stopped shaking. I now wear a panic button permanently around my neck.
“I would like to suggest that when you are alone in your house or garden and have an alarm system, to wear a panic button, especially elderly people. Even your domestic should have one when she is alone in your house,” she said.
