A CALLOUS thief stole money from an elderly woman after she fell unconscious in the middle of a busy shopping street.

Geraldine Croucher, from Pinehurst, was walking to the bus stop by the Central Library after collecting her pension from the post office in WH Smiths when she suddenly fell unconscious near The Savoy earlier this month.

When the 72-year-old came round she found that her £159 pension, which she had just withdrawn from the post office, had been stolen.

Now her family has spoken out to praise a stranger, known only as Ashley, who stopped to call an ambulance for her.

Paramedics took Geraldine to Great Western Hospital, where she is still recovering.

She has nasty bruising down most of her left side and a lump over her left eye, which is making it difficult to see.

Despite this, she is in remarkably good spirits and thanked the paramedics and the stranger who helped her.

She said: “They were ever so kind, he needn’t have stayed with me all that time.

“It’s all a bit fuzzy but I remember his name was Ashley and I think he worked for Sky because I saw the Sky logo on his top. He said he saw me fall and was too far away to catch me but looked after me until the ambulance came. There are some really kind people out there.”

Geraldine’s daughter Lara was grateful for the man’s support. She said: “I’m glad that someone arranged for the paramedics to be called as soon as possible.

“I want to say a big thank you to that man and thank the paramedics for what they’ve done. Mum has diabetes and has collapsed in Tesco and Wilkinson before.

“The staff there always help her up and get her some water and food to restore her blood sugar.

“She’s been in hospital three times over the past year and this time they said the collapse was caused by a heart problem. She might have to have a pacemaker fitted.

“She will be in hospital for another week or fortnight, but she’s having some physiotherapy to get her back on her feet.”

Unfortunately, not every bystander was as kind as Ashley. One person who noticed the unconscious pensioner decided to steal the pension that she had tucked into a backpack on her trolley, which was left unattended while Ashley helped her on to a seat.

Lara said: “It’s disgusting and cowardly. I can’t believe there are people out there who would do something like that.

“It must have been a quick, opportunistic snatch because they didn’t rifle through her purse or the rest of her belongings.

“I’ve checked with the post office and they have CCTV of mum receiving the cash and putting it into the top of her bag, and she still has the receipt, so she did have it before she fell.”