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Evil thieves beat an 80-year-old retired miner to a pulp and left him for dead as they made off with his £30,000 life savings.

The disgusted family of frail Tommy Ward last night released heartbreaking pictures of him fighting for his life in hospital.

They pleaded for information about the savage attack on the old soldier, saying: “Please help find the monsters who did this to our dad”.

Tommy suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs and a broken jaw during a sustained beating.

His index finger was snapped, leaving just the tendons attached, and a horrific scalp wound had to be stapled from ear to ear during a six-hour operation.

He has not spoken since the attack nine days ago and doctors initially warned he had just a 25 per cent chance of survival after a bleed on his brain.

The thugs who raided his home in Maltby, South Yorkshire, stole a safe containing the cash.

Tommy, who did National Service with the Norfolk Regiment and the Northumberland Fusiliers, was found by his carer.

His daughter Jackie Perry said: “I burst into tears when I saw him. Whoever did this is pure evil.”

The 52-year old care worker from Doncaster said: “My dad only weighs nine stone. They could have just pushed him over and got what they wanted. Why did they have to be so violent?

“He must have gone through torture. Please help us find who did this. This could be your mum or dad. They are monsters.

“We don’t know if he’s out of danger yet. He is still in the high dependency ward.”

(Image: Family collect)

Tommy’s youngest son, council worker Sean, 44, shook his head as he said: “You can still see the terror in his eyes.

"He starts breathing really fast then his arms shoot up. He’s on morphine but you can still see in his eyes he’s scared. “

Today the family cleaned up their father’s bloodstains in the kitchen of his immaculately kept home.

Jackie said: “This was his home with my mum Dorothy for years. They bought it in 1981.”

Dad-of-four Tommy also has daughter, Linda, 55, and son, Norman, 57, plus 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

The family had tried to persuade him to move into sheltered ­accommodation but he insisted on staying in his home.

Jackie said: “They robbed him of that choice. He can’t go back now – it would be terrifying for him.”

(Image: John Gladwin)

The family are praying Tommy pulls through and were delighted a few days ago when he opened his eyes for the first time.

“That was wonderful to see,” Jackie said.

Sean added: “He has a heart condition and he was refused a bypass because they said his heart was not strong enough. He’d been in hospital the week before the attack ­because of a fall.

“When we were told he was in hospital again we thought it must have been another fall.

“We’d moved his bed downstairs to help him. He still used to go down village on his scooter though. He’s got fight in him.

“But it’s a long road ahead. I was dumbstruck when I saw him. Words can’t describe my feelings about the people who did this.”

(Image: Family Collect)

Relatives have been playing Irish music to Tommy – who has family links to the Republic – in a bid to help him recover.

Jackie said: “Dad is a real character and always joking. It’s not about the money – we need justice for him.

"He didn’t put his money in his bank – he was that generation, old fashioned about stuff like that. He was in no position to defend himself.

"They left him with those injuries. They walked away and shut the door on him. We don’t know how long he suffered alone. They knew full well what state he was in.”

Tommy’s ordeal has rocked the small town near Rotherham and local businesses are ­offering rewards for information.

Jackie said: “The support we have had from our community is helping us get through this.”

Her sister Linda said: “We are desperate to find who did this. I was devastated to see my dad in that condition. It’s heartbreaking.”

Police have appealed for help tracking down a safe believed to be missing from Tommy’s home.

(Image: Police handout)

Detective Inspector Richard Partridge, in charge of the investigation, described it as a “nasty attack”. He said: “We are yet to locate the safe that we believe was taken when he was assaulted.”

The missing safe is light grey and has a key lock. It is around 40cm x 30cm x 18cm. Two men aged 19 are on police bail after being arrested on suspicion of ­attempted murder and burglary.

Anyone with information should call 101 or email enquiries@southyorks.pnn.police.uk, quoting incident number 408.

Can you help Tommy?

Tommy Ward has been robbed of his life savings in this despicable act of violence.

If you would like to help Tommy you can make a donation to a crowd funding site set up by the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

All money donated will go directly to Tommy’s family.

Please visit http://www.mirror.co.uk/tommyward