Terminal cancer patient robbed and left for dead after collapse

A terminal cancer patient was robbed and left face down in a pool of his own blood after he collapsed while walking in the Hutt Valley.

A close friend of the man, who did not wish to be named, said he had decided to walk to the Naenae shops to buy some food to celebrate his 60th birthday when he suddenly fainted on Oxford Terrace.

The man fell face forward, breaking his nose. While he was unconscious and in a pool of blood, she said three men came and stole $80 out of the man’s backpack, alongside his phone and wallet.

“They actually went into his bag while he was lying there, unconscious, and they stole his stuff instead of ringing the ambulance … all he remembers is boots around him.”

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The woman said her friend was also kicked while he was unconscious. Luckily, three women found him and called an ambulance, which took him to Hutt Hospital where he was found to have a broken nose and a fractured skull.

“So basically his nose is like, literally to one side of his face. It’s completely snapped to one side. And he’s got stitches across it.”

The man is still at the hospital but no longer in intensive care.

The woman said the encounter left her “lost for words.” Her friend had stage five lymphoma, and had been diagnosed a year ago after a period of being in remission.

She said he was trying to do something nice for himself for his birthday and “feel normal”, but instead was robbed and left for dead by three strangers.

She said crime had increased in the area over the years. “It’s getting really dangerous.”

Police were unable to confirm the alleged theft and assault had taken place.