Sheppey woman speaks out after gunman blasts her with shotgun
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Exclusive by Emma Grove
A housewife has spoken of the terrifying moment she was shot in
the leg by a caller to her quiet village home.
Surgeons removed 80 shotgun pellets from Marilyn Finch’s legs
following the attack in Bramley Way, Eastchurch.
The horror started about 4.50pm on March 9 when 41-year-old
Mrs Finch was sitting in the living-room of her bungalow and the
door buzzed.
She and her husband Peter have CCTV at the front door and Mrs
Finch saw a man standing with his back to the camera.
She went out into the hallway and opened the front door.
As soon as she did this, the man began arguing with her and
within seconds she was faced with a sawn-off gun.
Mrs Finch said: "From behind his back he pulled a shotgun. He
shouted and screamed and then pulled the gun out.
"I slammed the door and started running back up the
corridor and he shot through the bottom of the door.
"It felt like about three people had shoved me really hard to
the ground and it felt like my leg was on fire. It was
terrifying."
Quietly spoken Mrs Finch fell to the ground and managed to drag
herself into the living room, leaving a trail of blood.
Mr Finch, 46, was having a lie down in the bedroom when it
happened.
He said: "All I heard was an almighty bang and something hit my
bedroom door.
"I heard Maz screaming and I came into the lounge and she had
crawled into there from the door and I had to pick her up off the
floor."
Mrs Finch, who is a full-time carer for her husband who has
blood clots on the brain, was rushed to Medway Maritime Hospital
with gunshot wounds to both of her legs.
There are still signs of the ordeal in the Finch’s house - a
hole blasted through the bottom of the front door, wallpaper
scraped away from the wall where the pellets from the shotgun
cartridge hit it and a hole in the bedroom door at the end of the
corridor.
But the worst damage was to Mrs Finch. Using crutches to get
around, she is now on strong pain-killers and antibiotics and still
has pellets buried deep in her legs.
Although the tablets make her feel drowsy she said she can
remember the drama quite clearly.
She said: "I don’t know how long I will be on the tablets for.
I’m still in a lot of pain.
"I have to inject myself in the stomach because there are still
pellets in me and I hate needles."
The couple, who have lived in Eastchurch for eight years, say
they have no idea why the gunman turned up at their house.
They said it was completely out of the blue and were horrified
it happened in the afternoon when there were children playing
outside.
Mr Finch added: "The doctor said if Marilyn had been about a
foot further back, nearer the door, she would have lost her
leg.
"I think when she shut the door it pushed the gun down and
that’s why it got her legs. It could have been so much worse."
Wednesday, March 17 2010
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