Over €12,000 has been raised so far for a brother and sister who had their life savings stolen in a terrifying knifepoint burglary.
Gardai are investigating after a masked thug held 79-year-old Gerry O'Halloran and his sister Mary, 83, at knifepoint during the incident in Cork city after 7.30am on Sunday.
Gerry was confronted by a man, armed with a large blade, in the hallway at his home in sheltered accommodation in Boyce’s Street.
He had been expecting a call from his sister Mary who visits him when not caring for another sibling, but when she arrived, she was ordered inside by the burglar, who had spent nearly 30 minutes demanding cash from her brother.
Eventually she was forced to hand over a significant sum of money she happened to be carrying in her handbag.
Mary sustained a minor cut to her hand as the intruder threatened her, Cork Beo reports.
An hour after he had burst into the home, the hood made off with all the money Gerry and Mary had. He had ripped out a phone line in the house to stop them calling for help.
Paramedics who tended to the pair set up a Go Fund Me page, which has raised over €12,000 in less than 24 hours.
Keith Harrington said the pair are “deeply traumatised” and victim Gerry will not return to his home as he is too afraid.
The paramedic wrote: “We are paramedics who are running this Go Fund Me in an attempt to return some of Gerry and Mary's life savings which was stolen from them during a burglary in their home this morning in Cork.
“They are an elderly brother and sister and have been deeply traumatised by their experience. They were held at knifepoint in their home for over an hour. They are now being treated in the Mercy hospital.
“It would be great if we could alleviate their financial worries at least. Thank you.”
As of 9.30am on Monday, more than €12,000 has been raised by over 500 donors.
The National Ambulance Service paramedic and his partner Sean Healy took the elderly pair, who were very badly shaken, to the Mercy Hospital in Cork.
Keith told the Irish Mirror on Sunday: “It’s not something we would normally do, but we thought we had to do something for them as it was a lot of money for them and it was a shocking experience.
“We explained what a Go Fund Me page was to them and asked if it was OK, we have to be very careful with the privacy of patients, but they understood what we wanted to do and they were happy for us to do it.”
The pair had aimed to get €2,000 for the couple, but have now raised over €12,000..
Keith added: “It’s not something we often do, we see a lot in his job.
“But there was something about this that just got to us, and we wanted to help Gerry and Mary.”
Gardai confirmed an investigation is under way as they appealed for witnesses.
A spokesman said: “Gardai are appealing for information. They are keen to speak with anyone who was in the vicinity of Boyce’s Street or neighbouring streets between 6.30am and 9am who may have witnessed anything. They are also appealing to road users with video footage from the Gurranabraher area between those times, to make it available to them.
“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Gurranabraher Garda Station on 021 4946200.”
