“I´d hate this to happen to another tourist...”

Robert and Valerie Jordan should be back home in Glasgow now telling their children and eight-month-old grandchild about their 25th anniversary holiday in Majorca, unfortunately they are both still on the island as Valerie recovers from serious head injuries suffered when a youth violently snatched her bag in the early hours of Thursday June 15 in Magalluf. Valerie came out of intensive care at the Clinica Femenia in Palma two days ago, a week after the incident. Yesterday husband Robert, still clearly shaken, said that he hopes someone is apprehended by the police soon or that tourists are warned. “I'd hate this to happen to somebody else. You never think that things like this will happen to you, you always think it will happen to someone else, well it's happened to me and my wife and it's the last thing we expected in Majorca. People in our hotel have since stopped taking their hand bags out at night. All Valerie had in the bag was cash and a roll of film, our valuables were locked away in a hotel safe, but we were given no warnings to be extra careful,” Robert Jordan said. The incident happened at 2am. The Jordans, staying in Palma Nova decided to go and see Magalluf with another couple they had met during the first week of their holiday on a cruise. “We had a few drinks and decided, as it was such a nice night to walk back along the coast. We (the two husbands) were walking a couple of yards ahead and as we passed the entrance to a hotel, a man in his early 20*s, about 6ft 1 or 2 and definitely Spanish looking with shaven sides to his head and long hair on top, rushed out and grabbed my wife's bag. “She had the bag slung across the body so it was not easy to get free, but the thief pulled and pulled until my wife fell backwards to the floor and he ran off with the bag. “I heard my wife screaming and immediately turned round, but the thief ran past on the my other side. “We ran after him and three men from the hotel joined the chase, but at the end of the road was a white Opel Corsa with the passenger door open. The thief jumped in, the car swung a U-turn and zoomed off, forcing an oncoming taxi to swerve out of its way,” Robert Jordan said yesterday. Valerie was taken into the hotel reception and eventually Robert and his wife were taken back to their Palma Nova hotel covered in blood. The police arrived within 45 minutes and took a statement while a second doctor examined Valerie Jordan and called for an ambulance. The scans and x-rays revealed that she had suffered a fracture to the back of the head and a hairline fracture at the front. Valerie spent a week in intensive care and yesterday was sitting up in remarkably good spirits, but the doctors have to wait until the swelling of a blood clot at the back of her head has gone down before she can fly. “All we want to do now is get home,” Robert Jordan said. “We've travelled all over the place, but nothing like this has ever happened. We'll never be coming back and I still cannot go out without looking behind me, I've never been as scared in my life. The hospital staff and First Choice have been excellent,” Jordan said, but he hopes that tourists in future will be warned to be careful “don't go out with a handbag at night.” He also added “one thing we've learnt is the importance of travel insurance, people should never leave home without out it.”