A violent car thief assaulted an elderly grandmother before taking off with her vehicle. Soon after, he died in a crash.
Shirlene Hernandez, from San Antonio, Texas, recently visited her local Shell petrol station to pick up a Diet Coke.
A quick stop-off soon became a nightmare for the 72-year-old when a man savagely beat her before stealing her car, leaving the pensioner with severe injuries.
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The thief approached her, punched her in the face several times and swiped the keys from her hands before driving away. Three witnesses tried to tackle the man, but he managed to flee.
Soon after the carjacking, police found Hernandez's car totalled on the interstate, with the driver dying as a result of the crash.
Speaking to KABB, Hernandez said: "There’s a lot of people who would say what goes around comes around, karma. I did not think that; the only thing I got [was] really sad because he had died.
"Now granted, he had hurt me, but the Lord saw fit to take him out of his misery."
Hernandez praised the Good Samaritans who tried to help her during the attack, and urged others to help if saw people in trouble.
She continued: "I just hope that if this situation happens to anybody else, that somebody will step forward, leap forward, run forward, whatever and help the person that it’s happening to."
Hernandez isn't letting the incident hold her back: she's already saving for another car.
She said: "I realised - I don’t have a car. I just don’t want to quit working and so I’ve got to somehow get another car and that takes money and stuff. I’ve got to figure out what to do."
Her granddaughter has since launched a GoFundMe to help Hernandez with any expenses as she recovers from her injuries and looks for a new car.
It reads: "Hi, my name is Helen, and I am helping my 71-year-old grandma Shirlene. On April 12th, she was carjacked from a Shell station in San Antonio on her way to work.
"The man who took her car hit her with the door, badly bruising her face. The man wrecked her car and totalled it, leaving her without a way to get to work or appointments.
"Any donation helps get her back on her feet and is greatly appreciated."
So far, it's raised more than $28,000, far beyond its initial goal of $5,000.
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Topics: US News
Cameron Frew