YOUNG grandmother has been told she could have an incurable disease brought on by the trauma of a violent attack.
Joyce Benbow, 49, has been unable to work since the attack by two teenage girls and fears she won't work again after doctors told her she may be suffering from fibromyalgia, an incurable musculoskeletal pain and fatigue dis-order believed to be brought on by trauma.
Joyce has suffered symptoms common with the disease since she was attacked while working at the Co-op Late Store in Wharton Road, Winsford, in September.
She had challenged a female shoplifter who had previously been banned from the store when the thug and a friend leapt on her, punching and kicking her.
Joyce, who lives in Wharton, has spoken out after shopkeepers raised fears about the rising tide of abuse they are receiving in the town at night.
She said: 'I asked her to leave but she knocked everything off the shelf and then kicked me in the stomach.
'The other girl who was with her hit me in the face and then the first girl jumped on me. It took two men who had come into the shop to get her off.
'After the attack I took some time off work, but when I went back I found sometimes I would feel really fatigued. I felt as if I couldn't lift my arms, even picking up a packet of crisps was too much.
'I have been off work ever since and I am now waiting for the results of blood tests and a brain scan. The doctor left me with some information about fibromyalgia, which can be brought on by trauma like the one I suffered after the attack.
'It's not been confirmed, but when I was reading about it, it was like I was reading about myself. I get muscle pain and fatigue and sometimes it is a struggle to move my arms.
'The attack has also made me nervous - if I go to the shopping centre, I'm on edge all the time.'
Joyce, who has four grandchildren, says she wants those responsible for the abuse and harassment suffered by shop workers in convenience stores in the town to realise the consequences of their actions - and to think twice before menacing work-ers who are simply trying to make a living.
She added: 'I want to ask them why they do it, what possible pleasure can they get out of causing such misery? Shopkeepers get abused and spat on, people have been attacked - would these people like their own mothers to work in such conditions?
'This is happening at all the shops in Winsford - people don't realise how bad it is. Something needs to be done.'
