Bridie McGeown was a walking along the Portadown Road in Lurgan, County Antrim on Sunday night, when she was attacked from behind by two youths.
Speaking from her hospital bed, she said she had only a bottle of medicine and the price of a bus fare in her handbag when she was knocked to the ground and robbed.
"I was shocked a bit, more scared than anything," she said.
"I was lying on the road. He gave me that big a shake.
"I got an awful fright, I did. I thought I was dead."
The injured pensioner said that she was speaking about the attack because she wanted people to realise that there was a "real person behind the news headlines".
She said about her attackers: "I think they need locked up."
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