THE family of an Irish pensioner who was assaulted in his home have said he will need round the clock care for the rest of his life as he prepares for further surgery.
Tommy Ward, 80, was the victim of a horrific assault and burglary at his home of 31 years in Maltby, South Yorkshire, on October 1.
He was left with a broken jaw and a fractured skull, as well as broken ribs and a finger hanging just by its tendons.
A six-hour operation was required to treat his head injury – and now his damaged finger will have to be amputated.
On top of these horrific injuries, his family have said that his life savings of £30,000 are also missing from his Salisbury Road home since the incident.
"He will never go back to that house now. He can’t," his daughter Jackie Perry told The Irish Post.
“He will need 24-hour care and we all work so he will have to go to a care home which is what he didn’t want.”
As Mr Ward lies in hospital, his family are now waiting for him to be well enough to speak to find out what happened.
“It’s heart-breaking,” Ms Perry said. “It’s just a waiting game now for him to be able to tell us what happened.
“He opens his eyes and sees us but he hasn’t spoken at all since it happened.”
Mr Ward's worried family are hoping he will remember something that will lead to his attackers being brought to justice.
80-year-old Tommy Ward remains in hospital after the attackDoctors initially gave the pensioner just a 25 per cent chance of a full recovery.
The second generation Irishman was in hospital being treated for his injuries before his children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren knew anything about the attack.
An injured Mr Ward was found by his carer at his Salisbury Road home on October 1 and brought to hospital.
The hospital then contacted the family and they rushed to his bedside to find him covered in bruises and surrounded by doctors.
“We’ve been told his injuries will be life-changing,” Ms Perry said. “And the finger that was damaged, that has to come off.”
Mr Ward, who is a fiercely independent man, refused to move into a care home in his old age, despite concerns from his family.
“He was adamant he didn’t want to go to sheltered accommodation,” Ms Perry said. “We were worried about him and people said to me ‘you know how stubborn your dad can be’, so he stayed at home where he wanted to be.
“But now we've no choice, he will need the care.”
It had only been in the past 12 months that Mr Ward had begrudgingly accepted the help of a part-time carer – and he still does his own washing and goes to his local pub for a pint on his scooter.
As he recovers, his family are doing everything they can to make sure he is as comfortable as possible in hospital.
“He buys The Irish Post every week, we’ve been reading it to him,” said Ms Perry. “And we’ve downloaded some Irish music like The Dubliners onto an iPod and we’re playing that for him.”
Mr Ward’s mother came from Connemara, Co. Galway – and his daughter says he is an extremely proud Irishman.
“He loves old Irish songs,” she said. “And he loves his visits Ireland.”
Along with his late wife Dorothy, Mr Ward visited various parts of Ireland almost every year and his children were raised on Irish music.
Having worked hard all his life – first as a solider and later as a miner – the proud Irishman saved hard for his retirement.
And when his wife died four years ago, Mr Ward used some of those savings to bring his children on a trip to Ireland with him.
“We went to Bray, Galway, the Wicklow Mountains – all the places Mam and Dad used to go to,” Ms Perry said.
“He paid for our trip to Ireland and he looks after us if we need it. He’s so generous with his money.
South Yorkshire Police have issued an appeal to the public to help search for a safe belonging to Mr Ward (similar to the one pictured below) which has been missing since the attack.
“We are yet to locate the safe that we believe was taken from the man’s home when he was assaulted,” Detective Inspector Richard Partridge said.
A safe similar to the one that is missing from the victim's homeAppealing to the public for their help, DI Partridge added: “I’d urge everyone living in the local area to cast their minds back to last week – Salisbury Road is often quite busy, with buses and cars passing through – and consider whether there was anything out of the ordinary or anything suspicious.”
Two 19-year-old men, from the local area, are currently on police bail after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and burglary.
A 23-year-old man was also arrested on October 4 on suspicion of attempted murder but was released with no further action.
