UK robbery victim has surgery at PoSGH

A 72-year-old woman temporarily lost the use of one of her fingers after being robbed while walking around the Queen’s Park Savannah on Boxing Day.

Sally Wilson and her husband Michael, 74, were walking around 12.30 pm on Wednesday when they were attacked.

Wilson had a bag draped over her right shoulder and resting on her left hip. A thief slashed the bag, containing two bank cards and her Nokia cellphone, slicing her left hand in the process. The man then ran off.

The couple were taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where Wilson was treated for the cut and discharged. Investigators said the seriousness of Wilson’s injury went unnoticed while doctors treated her for a laceration to the hand.

It was only after she was discharged that she realised her finger was not moving and she was rushed into surgery. Police said a tendon was torn in the attack and the surgery was to repair the paralysed finger.

Police said the couple gave a vague description of the thief as a “tall African man.” They are further hampered by the fact that there areno CCTV cameras around the Savannah. The police Victim and Witness Support Unit is working with the British High Commission to assist the Wilsons, who missed the departure of their cruise ship, which docked on Boxing Day.

The couple, according to a media release from the Tourism Ministry, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary today. The Caribbean cruise on the MSC Preziosa was part of their celebration.

Wilson was discharged yesterday and she and her husband have been accommodated at a hotel in Port of Spain.

Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell, in the release, said: “Our visitors would have been looking forward to their trip only to have it ruined by an act of violence.”

Mitchell said security arrangements will be reviewed to prevent a recurrence and added that the police have always been diligent in collaborating with the Tourism Ministry and other stakeholders to keep visitors safe.

“We will continue to work with them to ensure the well-being of our guests and to improve the visitor experience,” he said.

The media release added that based on the ministry’s information, there has not been a similar incident in several years.