A Texas woman could spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair after a thief pushed her to the ground and stole thousands of dollars in a robbery caught on camera last month, police and reports say.
Nhung Truong has been unable to use one of his legs since he was attacked by a man on Feb. 13 after withdrawing a large sum of cash from a bank, according to relatives and Houston police.
Truong, 44, was followed to a shopping center 24 miles from the bank, where the suspect approached him and tried to flee with the money, authorities said.
She dropped some of her items during the fight with the man, Houston police footage shows. The thief made off with an object before quickly returning, picking Truong off the ground and slamming him mercilessly onto the pavement before fleeing with the money, police said.
Police believe he initially stole the wrong item, which he saw before returning.
The family said about $4,300 was stolen, KRIV reported.
But worse, Truong’s spinal cord was damaged in the attack, and he can’t use his left leg, he and his family told KHOU.
“You never know when my legs will walk again,” Truong said through his daughter.
“This is not a big waste of money,” his daughter Linh Duong told the station. “The big loss is the legs.”
Truong is a single mother of three who came to the United States from Vietnam. The victim’s mother explained that her daughter had led a difficult life and lost her husband to liver cancer seven years ago, KRIV reported.
She needed constant care, including help using the toilet.
Doctors said there was a 50 percent chance Truong would walk again.
“If a miracle happens, he can walk again,” Van Duong’s daughter told KRIV.
The money she withdrew from the bank will be used for a trip to Vietnam for him and his family, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his family.
The family asks for financial support for their mother’s care and daily expenses.
No arrests were made in the case.
