72-year-old grandmother beat up and carjacked, now looking for another car for work
SAN ANTONIO (KABB/WOAI) - A grandmother is recovering after being beat up at a gas station earlier this week, all in an attempt to take her car.
Like many grandmas, 72-year-old Shirlene Hernandez loves to show off her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.
But a traumatic run-in with a carjacker left her with some battle scars that could've taken her away from them.
She's here now, left to tell the tale.
"I can see that man in detail," says Shirlene. "I have a picture in my mind of him that just doesn't go away."
Shirlene made her way to the Shell gas station on Southcross and I-35 Tuesday morning, something she does every day to get her Diet Coke fix.
On her way inside a man grabbed her, hitting her several times in the face in a tussle to take her keys.
Shirlene says despite three men trying to tackle the attacker, he still got away.
Not long after, police found her car on I-35 at Somerset, totaled.
The assailant: dead.
"There's a lot of people who would say what goes around comes around, karma," says Shirlene. "I did not think that. I got really sad because he had died. Now, granted he had hurt me, but the Lord saw fit to take him out of his misery."
Shirlene says she's still sore and a little beat up, but mostly she's okay.
The carjacker didn't take her spunk, but he did take something pretty valuable.
"I realized I don't have a car," says Shirlene.
Despite her age, Shirlene still works every day.
She lives on the southwest side, her job is on the northeast side.
It's a bit of a jaunt, but the income helps keep her and her husband stable.
"I just don't want to quit working and so I've got to somehow get another car and that takes money and stuff," she says. "I've got to figure out what to do."
She's ready to get back to work and regain wheels to get her around.
Ultimately she says she's glad to be here and hopes we'll all learn to spring into action when we can.
"I just hope that if this situation happens to anybody else, that somebody will step forward, leap forward, run forward, whatever and help the person that it's happening to," says Shirlene.
If you'd like to donate to help Shirlene, you can do so here.
If you know where she can find an affordable car, contact her family through the donation page.
