02/03/05 - I'm Ripper victim,
but he'll be better treated
Robert Sutcliffe
Yorkshire Post
A WOMAN left for dead by the Yorkshire Ripper is struggling
to get basic health care – while he lives a life
of luxury, her family claimed last night.
Olive Smelt, 76, of Boothtown, Halifax, was lucky to survive
after Peter Sutcliffe brutally attacked her with a hammer
following a night out in the town in August 1975.
He hit her repeatedly on the head with a hammer after
she made a throwaway remark he took exception to in a
Halifax pub where she had been relaxing with friends.
Unbeknown to her, he followed her in his car before attacking
her. She was left with a fractured skull and slashes to
her body.
She was the second woman to be attacked by Sutcliffe –
who murdered 13 women and attempted to kill another six.
Now her daughter Julie Lowry, a care assistant, is furious
at the problems her mother is encountering in trying to
obtain medical help.
In a rare interview she told the Yorkshire Post: "We
try to keep a low-profile because my mum has suffered
enough. We have not been able to lead a normal life. As
soon as he (Peter Sutcliffe) so much as sneezes everyone
wants to know what we think about it."
Ms Lowry and her older sister, Linda, want Calderdale
Council to provide a special bath seat, costing about
£400, so they can lower their mother into the bath.
They have been told they face a six-month wait for one.
They also want an end to their mum having to visit Calderdale
Royal Hospital for weekly blood checks when they say it
would be much more convenient to have them done at home.
Ms Lowry said: "We have never asked for anything
for my mum. All we want is a bath seat, so my sister and
I can bath her, and, instead of Mum having to go to the
hospital, I want the district nurse to come here.
"I have rung the hospital, and I've been told that
because she is not housebound, this is not possible. But
she can't go out unless we take her.
"My biggest argument is that he (Peter Sutcliffe)
has done wrong, and yet if he needed a bath, he would
get it straightaway. Why should he live a life of luxury?
It does make me feel very bitter and angry. I never did
before, but I do now."
Mrs Smelt, a mother-of-three, whose health began deteriorating
around five years ago, added: "I really would love
to be able to have a bath, and the fact is I just cannot
manage these days without help."
Asked what her feelings were about the man who very nearly
ended her life, she is surprisingly compassionate, saying:
"I never think about him. But when his dad (John)
was ill and he had cancer, I didn't agree with the authorities
not letting him see his dad."
Calderdale's head of adult services, Phil Shire, said
anyone applying for specialist equipment had to be assessed
by occupational therapists who would prioritise the most
needy first – such as the terminally ill or the
very frail.
He said: "In Calderdale we do not have enough occupational
therapists – nationally there is a shortage."
Sutcliffe, 58, was jailed for life in 1981 and has been
at Broadmoor top security hospital since 1984. |
