A YOUNG Greenock woman who nearly lost her life after battling a gruelling illness has bravely spoken out about her ‘terrifying’ ordeal at the hands of a masked mugger.

Natalie Stewart says she froze in blind panic when a man tried to snatch her handbag outside her home in Gael Street at about 6am yesterday morning.

The 24-year-old, who was badly shaken up, says the incident happened after a tough year which saw her bed-ridden for eight months and unable to eat or walk.

Natalie said: “I just got out the car at the end of the road and was walking along when I saw someone coming along the street towards me.

“I never thought anything of it as a lot of people walk their dogs at that time but as I got to my gate he just ran towards me and tried to grab my bag which I had under my arm.

“I was terrified and I panicked and froze.” Thankfully the cowardly culprit fell over and Natalie managed to escape inside with her bag before immediately calling the police.

She said: “He slipped and fell.

“I couldn’t see his face as he had covered it with a black scarf but I could see in his eyes that he was thinking ‘what am I going to do now, this hasn’t quite worked out’.

“I managed to escape into my house and I saw him run off up the stairs across the road which leads into the back gardens of the flats.

“When I got inside I was crying and shaking and made sure I locked the door.

“I then phoned my mum and dad, who were quite upset, and they told me to phone the police.” Detectives are now searching for the would-be bag snatcher.

The would-be-thief is described as about 5ft 9ins tall and was wearing a dark tracksuit top and bottoms and was wearing white trainers.

Natalie said: “I’m speaking out about what happened as I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

“I’m hoping that it was just a foolish moment of madness and not something that the man plans to do again to anyone else.

“There has to be someone who saw something as I noticed that some of the lights were on in the neighbouring flats.” Natalie says she is determined not to let the frightening incident hold her back after a year where she has been in and out of hospital suffering from debilitating stress.

She said: “It has been quite a tough year, I suddenly became not well in April and kept being sick.

“I went down to about six stone and was so weak that I couldn’t walk.

“I also have Type 1 diabetes so it was really serious — to the point where it was life threatening, as my body began to shut down.

“A few months later I was diagnosed with stress and I’ve since had treatment, so I’m on the road to recovery.

“Because of my illness, I was confined to my house for the past six months so I’ve only just started to get out again.

“After yesterday I feel jinxed.

“But I’ve had so much support from my family and I’m determined that this incident will not hold me back.” Anyone who can help police is asked to phone 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.