Attacked gran Mavis is getting back on her feet

Mavis Youren has her dancing shoes back on – less than three months after a savage attack at her home left her fighting for her life.
Mavis Youren, front, with friends from the sequence dancing group.Mavis Youren, front, with friends from the sequence dancing group.
Mavis Youren, front, with friends from the sequence dancing group.

And the 85-year-old grandmother says that despite her horrendous ordeal, she doesn’t blame her attacker for what he did.

Mavis was hit across the head and leg with a teapot, kettle and concrete paving slab at her home in School Road, Heysham, on June 18, an horrific incident which shocked the community.

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As well as serious head injuries, Mavis also suffered a dislocated shoulder and injuries to her left leg and right hand.

Mavis Youren, front, with friends from the sequence dancing group.Mavis Youren, front, with friends from the sequence dancing group.
Mavis Youren, front, with friends from the sequence dancing group.

She spent time in intensive care at both the Royal Preston Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

But joining in with a sequence dancing group at The Platform on Thursday, Mavis looked well on the road to a full recovery.

“I am getting there,” she said. “I am having physio and I still get dizzy spells and I can’t dance like I used to.

“I used to dance three times a week before this happened.”

Mavis, left, dancing at The Platform.Mavis, left, dancing at The Platform.
Mavis, left, dancing at The Platform.
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Mavis said she cannot recall much of the attack, although she will never forget the trauma of what she went through.

She said: “I don’t remember anything after being hit over the head. I supposedly went outside and the neighbours helped me.

“I was hit with a piece of concrete and I don’t remember it at all. I woke up in hospital with my daughter by my side.”

Mavis is currently living in Morecambe Bay Care Home on Broadway but is hoping to return to her home soon.

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And she is planning to go dancing at the Blackpool Tower ballroom with friends once her recovery is complete.

Her attacker, a 57-year-old man, is currently sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

“I will never forget what happened,” she said. “But I don’t blame him for what he did, I know he didn’t know what he was doing.

Mavis was born in Nottingham and moved to Blackpool to become an ice dancer in shows around the area.

She met her ex-husband Sid at the Floral Hall in Morecambe and settled in the resort, bringing up a son and daughter.

Sid used to run The Devonshire snooker club in the West End.