Woman robbed during seizures

Lydia Ramsay, 24, said she was robbed of $700 and all her cards after having a fit on Harry Street in Ashgrove, in Brisbane's west, about 10am (AEST) today.

Ms Ramsay said she was on her way home after withdrawing the money from a nearby bank to pay phone and rent bills.

“I usually get a warning but this (seizure) did come out of the blue,” she said today.pe”When I came to, my purse was gone.

“I looked everywhere in case I had just dropped it but it wasn't anywhere to be found and I rang the police and asked around if anyone had handed a purse in, but no one had handed a purse in anywhere.”

Ms Ramsay, a disability nurse, said she did not see the thief because she “blanks out completely” during seizures.

No one came to her aid despite falling ill in a “very public” place and ironically, in front of a medical centre.

“There's a main road at each end of the street, and there's a Woolworths at one end, a Coles at the other, medical centres, a bus route, so (it was) very busy,” Ms Ramsay said.

“I'm more upset than anything that I didn't get help from anyone.

“No one even bothered to call the police or even bother to go into the medical centre.”

Ms Ramsay, who has suffered seizures since age 11, was unsure how long the seizure lasted but said they could last between 30 seconds and 10 minutes.

Police have appealed for witnesses to the robbery to come forward.

“Police are appalled at the audacity of the thief, committing the offence whilst the woman was clearly in need of help,” a spokeswoman said.

Premier Peter Beattie last month appealed for Queenslanders to be more compassionate after a prominent indigenous leader was left for dead at a busy Brisbane bus stop for more than five hours.