Thief steals elderly woman's eye surgery savings
An elderly woman has been forced to postpone vital eye surgery after a thief stole her savings.
Monica Gleeson, 75, was sitting playing the pokies at the Bentleigh RSL last week, when a man casually walked past and stole her wallet from her walking frame.
“It is just terrible, just shocking. This is the second time around that I've been robbed and I'm sick of it,” said Ms Gleeson.
“No one wants to believe that that could actually happen, especially to a 75-year-old lady on a walking frame.”
The thief used her credit card to steal $1,300, which she had saved for a long awaited eye operation.
The operation was scheduled to take place just before Christmas.
“I did the right [eye] and they were about to do the left one this year and now I've been robbed, so I can't,” said Ms Gleeson.
The surgery has been delayed until next year, and Ms Gleeson said she will have to get a loan to pay for it.
Through police, the Bentleigh RSL reached out to give her a boost with a $200 gift voucher.
“It is just a nice little gesture out of goodwill, so that she can have a nice Christmas like everybody else,’ said Glenn Sanders from Bentleigh RSL.
Ms Gleeson is so angry that she thinks jail is too easy for the thief.
Instead she has suggested a more old-fashioned alternative if he's caught: to be sent to the navy to work off his debt.
“I hope they catch him soon,” she said. “It's absolutely hopeless.”
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