Chesterfield NHS worker 'shocked and traumatised' after burglary as she and elderly husband slept

Geraldine Martin, 55, says she was awoken in the early hours after a difficult day shift as a healthcare assistant during the coronavirus pandemic at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

She and her husband Edwin, 81, who has a number of underlying health problems, found their home had been ransacked at about 4am on Tuesday, March 24.

“It would be horrible for this to happen at any time but right now it is so shocking and traumatising,” Geraldine, of Station Road, Brimington, said.

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“I am having to disinfect everywhere because I don’t know what they touched. They must have been within two-feet of where we were sleeping.”

The couple were first disturbed when Edwin, who suffers with fibrosis of the lung, kidney failure, heart failure and asthma, heard noises at about 2am – but they thought it was their pet cats ‘messing around’.

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At about 4am, Geraldine heard her car alarm going off and rushed downstairs.

“I found the bunch of house keys on the floor but the car keys were missing,” she said. “The burglars must have been disturbed as they tried to take the car and the alarm went off.

“My husband said ‘who has moved everything?’ and then I noticed they had pulled clothes from wardrobes and taken jewellery.

“We called the police and when they had a look around they found a hole in the back door where they must have got in.

“It is tough to take. Everyone at the hospital is having to work so hard right now and then this happens at home. I am having to keep myself away from my husband as much as possible because of the virus and then this.

“I am tired out and devastated to be honest.”

The burglars swiped ‘irreplaceable’ jewellery which had belonged to Geraldine’s mother, as well as credit cards, cash, ceramic plates and Geraldine’s passport.

If you have any information, call Derbyshire police on 101.