A courageous grandmother is on the mend after a horrifying attack at a gas station, all stemming from an attempt to steal her car.

Shirlene Hernandez, a resilient 72-year-old, shares the typical love for showcasing her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, just like any other grandmother.

However, her life took a traumatic turn when she crossed paths with a carjacker, an encounter that could have tragically separated her from her beloved family.

“I can see that man in detail,” Hernandez bravely recounted. “I have a picture in my mind of him that just doesn’t go away.”

Hernandez, like clockwork, visited the gas station on a typical Tuesday morning to purchase a Diet Coke, as she had done every day.

But on this fateful day, she had a harrowing encounter. As she headed towards the gas station’s entrance, a man forcibly grabbed her, launching a brutal attack in an attempt to wrestle her car keys away.

Despite the heroic efforts of three men who attempted to come to her rescue, the assailant managed to escape.

Shortly thereafter, law enforcement authorities discovered Hernandez’s car, totaled and abandoned on I-35 at Somerset. Tragically, the suspect inside the vehicle had met a fatal end.

Reflecting on the incident, Hernandez shared her sentiments. “There’s a lot of people who would say, ‘What goes around comes around, karma,’” she said. “I did not think that. I got really sad because he had died. Now, granted he had hurt me, but the Lord saw fit to take him out of his suffering.”

While she continues to grapple with physical soreness, Hernandez remains mostly fine and, above all, grateful that her injuries were not more severe.

However, the incident left Hernandez, a dedicated worker, without a means of transportation, a challenge that impacts her and her husband’s financial stability.

“I just don’t want to quit working, and so I’ve got to somehow get another car, and that takes money and stuff,” she explained. “I’ve got to figure out what to do.”

Despite the trials she has faced, Hernandez remains thankful for her life and hopes that her story will encourage others to act when faced with similar situations.

“I just hope that if this situation happens to anybody else, that somebody will step forward, leap forward, run forward, whatever, and help the person that it’s happening to,” she said.