A west Belfast woman who was held at knife point during a break-in has told of how the "magnificent" support from the community has helped.
Bernie Kavanagh (62) was speaking as an online fundraiser set up to help her and her sister, Lorraine Murtagh (57) has raised more them £1,300.
The siblings were staying over at their 85-year-old mother, Margaret's home at Westrock Gardens last Wednesday night to care for the pensioner, when two masked intruders pushed their way into the house.
A knife was held against Mrs Kavanagh’s neck while a scalpel was used to threaten her sister.
The intruders, believed to be in their twenties, threatened to kill their mother, who has had several strokes and suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's, if they didn't hand over cash and medication.
The intruders eventually fled the property with a safe which contained a large sum of cash which the family had been saving every month to pay for their mother’s funeral.
It also contained sentimental jewellery belonging to Bernie's husband, who died three years ago from brain cancer, as well as other items of jewellery belonging to her mother.
Just over a week after the incident, Bernie Kavanagh, who lives in Ballymurphy, said while she and her sister are still "shattered" by what happened, the support from the community had been "magnificent".
The 62-year-old said the family had been particularly touched by an online fundraiser which had been set up with an aim of raising £1,500 to try and replace some of the funeral money which had been stolen.
So far, last night, the fund had raised just over £1,300.
Bernie said the lady behind the fundraiser was "unbelievable".
"We can't thank her enough," she said.
"People have been magnificent really. There are no words to express how thankful we are. That girl and all the people who have donated. We can't thank everyone in person but they will always be in our prayers.
"We have such a strong community. Only for the community, I don't think we would get through this.
"It is helping the whole family. People have called and sent flowers. They have been brilliant".
Bernie said what had happened was only "really just hitting us now".
"You just keep thinking about it everyday," she said.
"Hopefully, they do get caught. I wouldn't want another family to go through it".
Lisa Allen (36), who is originally from Ballymurphy but now lives in Lisburn, said she set up the online JustGiving fundraiser as she felt she had "to do something".
"I sat in tears listening to what happened," she said.
"I wanted to let them know there are people out there who care and it's not all bad in the world.
"Everyone was willing to help".
The mother-of-two added: "You never think something like that is going to happen. I just wanted to do something".
Donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lisa-walker-718
