'I'm in a lot of pain': Retail worker shares gory photos after assault by shopper

A retail worker used as a “punching bag” during the coronavirus pandemic has revealed the horrific injuries she suffered at the hands of a customer.

Samantha McCune-Clarke posted pictures of her bloody cuts and black eye to Facebook, detailing how “quarantine is making people crazy”.

“When I said retail workers are punching bags, I guess I wasn’t wrong,” she wrote on May 7.

“Today I was assaulted by a lady who was mad because we didn’t have a swimming pool for her. She threw a fit and started throwing things off the counter hitting her own baby stroller.”

Ms McCune-Clarke said she told the woman she needed to leave when all of a sudden the customer struck her.

“I believe she had keys in her hand and I momentarily couldn’t see anything when the lady she was with took her and their children out of the store,” she said.

“She directly went to her car and covered her plates so we couldn’t get them.

“I’m really upset and I’m in a lot of pain and in no way did I deserve this.

“This quarantine is making people crazy, but I have a feeling she would have behaved this way regardless.”

On Wednesday Ms McCune-Clarke gave people an update on her condition, saying the pain from the actual cut was nothing compared to “the knots I had from knuckles hitting my temple”.

“It made it difficult to chew and at times it felt like something was drilling into my head,” she said.

“Every time I’d close my eyes I’d relive the incident.”

Ms McCune-Clarke, who is based in California, did not disclose where she worked, saying she has been an employee there for 17 years and loved her job.

Many, however, were outraged by what she went through, with some sharing similar experiences.

“I got hit in the back of the head a week ago by a customer throwing a fit and I was just trying to get away from her,” one wrote.

“This virus has definitely brought the worst out in people,” another said.

• Road to recovery: PM announces 'three-step plan' to ease restrictions

• Coronavirus restrictions: How each state and territory will ease their rules

• Premier's startling warning: 'We will never have normal lives until Pandemic is over'

One claimed it was “childish behaviour” while another said it was “insane and cruel”.

Retail workers in Australia have also been subject to abusive behaviour amid the pandemic.

In March a Woolworths staff member was in tears after copping abuse from a panic-buying customer.

An Aldi shopper also allegedly coughed in a worker’s face after a rant in a Sydney supermarket in March.

Last month a mother took to Facebook to share how her teenage daughter was harassed by a customer for not wearing gloves while working at Coles during the coronavirus crisis.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.