Friends of badly beaten West Kelowna senior have a plan to help and it needs you | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Friends of badly beaten West Kelowna senior have a plan to help and it needs you

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KELOWNA - Friends of an elderly West Kelowna woman who was badly beaten and left for dead on a rural road are looking for community support to get the woman back on her feet.

“Her name is Ellie Holmes, really we should call her "Amazing Ellie,” reads a GoFundMe set up by Lori Rapp, the Office Manager at Westview Village mobile home park, where Ellie lives.

“Ellie is approximately five-foot-four and weighs about 115 pounds. Her attacker was much larger and stronger with a mental illness which makes him 10 times stronger than Ellie.”

Rapp said that, before the attack, Ellie went into her office often, just to say “hi,” brighten her day and share life stories.

In turn, Rapp went to the hospital to see her.

“I was surprised and shocked when I walked in and saw this beautiful woman with a big, bright toothless smile,” she said, adding Ellie wasn't sure where her new, $4,000 dentures ended up.

READ MORE: Elderly West Kelowna woman assaulted, left for dead in bush was suspect's mother

“As I walked in, Ellie said ‘Lori you probably don't recognize me, I didn't when I looked in the mirror.’”

Ellie was taken in her own car, beaten and left for dead. She’s badly injured and still awaiting surgery.

As this healing process occurs, Rapp is hoping the community can come forward and lessen her burden.

Rapp said that Bailey's Shine Shop in West Kelowna has already come forward and donated their services to clean Ellie's SUV from the blood spatter. She said her attacker did some electrical damage and got rid of the keys.   

It will be a financial setback and already, Ellie struggled. She’s 79 years old, on a fixed income, and still has to take on odd jobs to make ends meet and afford the work to stop her ageing home from falling apart. 

Ellie had a bathroom renovation started, which will not be finished by the person that started the reno and is now in desperate need of completion. 

Her water lines under her home have sprung leaks but Ellie just doesn't have the money to repair them, since she had just finished repairs on the roof of her home.

“I just want to help Ellie with some of her repairs of her home as well as help Ellie with any of the financial aid she will need in the future,” said Rapp on the crowdfunding page.

“We will also be looking for some very special people with trades to volunteer with the repairs to Ellie's home.”

The GoFundMe for Ellie can be found here.

Her alleged attacker returns to court on May 6.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Kathy Michaels or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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