KEY POINTS:
An elderly woman whose arm was pulled from its socket in a terrifying street robbery spent her first night back home last night after two weeks in hospital - and welcomed the news a suspect has been arrested.
The 79-year-old, who wants to be known only as Eileen,
was left with a number of injuries when her handbag was ripped from her shoulder while she was walking home from visit to the doctor on June 13.
The force of the bag being pulled was so great that skin was peeled off Eileen's arms.
Her left shoulder was pulled out of its socket.
She was dragged along the footpath as the strap caught on her elbow, causing grazing. Her left hand was also broken during the fall.
It has taken two weeks in Middlemore Hospital before the Papatoetoe woman's injuries have healed enough for her to go home.
Just hours before her discharge, police phoned Eileen's family with the news they had arrested the man who allegedly caused her injuries.
"I shall sleep well tonight," she said in reply to news of the arrest and her discharge.
Eileen plans to continue living on her own although she may need some help with cooking and cleaning while her injuries heal.
Her right arm remains in a sling and several fingers on her left hand are still grazed and broken, so it is difficult to use either arm.
But she says her experience won't stop her from getting out and about or moving on with her life.
"The first time I get out on my own I might be a little bit apprehensive, but I think I'll be all right - you have to be; you don't want to let them get you down."
Eileen's son, who wanted to be known only as Roy, described the attack on his mother as cowardly but thanked police for making an arrest and hospital staff for their care.
The family also wanted to thank the person who witnessed the street robbery and helped Eileen.
That person managed to write down a car registration number which helped police catch the alleged robber following execution of a search warrant in South Auckland yesterday.
A 26-year-old unemployed Otara man is due to appear in the Manukau District Court today charged with aggravated robbery.
