An 81-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Ontario says she doesn't want her attacker to know how badly hurt she is, and that "no matter who he thinks he's going to get, they're going to get him."

Mary Rivas told CBC Toronto on Thursday, "If he thinks he can get me that easy, well, he'll try it again,"

Rivas was withdrawing cash around 7:30 p.m. ET at a Bank of Montreal branch near Yonge Street and Wellington Street East when a man using the machine beside her reached for her money. She said she snatched it away from the slot before he could grab it.

'I didn't have time to be afraid, I was upset with him, I was determined,' Mary Rivas says. (YouTube/OfficialYRP)

"He was mad when the money wasn't there. That's when he grabbed my hand," she recalled,.

She said she wouldn't let go of the $500 clenched in her fist.

"I'm holding it, and he's pulling it out and I'm pulling him to make sure he's going to be seen in the video," Rivas said. "That's why I fought — to make him be seen in the video."

'I didn't have time to be afraid'

Police released security video of the altercation Wednesday, appealing to the public for help in identifying the suspect.

The video shows a man shoving Rivas to the ground before robbing her.

York regional police released surveillance video of a suspect stealing and pushing an 81-year-old woman to the ground at a bank ATM. 0:26

"When I'm fighting with him, my mother comes into the back of my mind and I remember her saying, 'Mary, if some man or boy, or you're out on a date and someone wants to do something, take your knee,'" Rivas said.

"He [the ATM robber] took the money he could get and punched me," she recalled, now wearing a large dark bruise on the left side of her chin.

If he thinks he can get me that easy, well he'll try it again. - Mary Rivas

Most of her body is covered in bruises, and she suffered several broken ribs, making it difficult to breathe.

But Rivas maintains she wasn't fearful.

"I didn't have time to be afraid. I was upset with him. I was determined. What went through my mind is, 'This man is not going to kill me.'"

Less than 24 hours after the video was released, a 35-year-old man from Sudbury, Ont., was charged with robbery.

York Regional Police have charged a 35-year-old man from Sudbury, Ont. with robbery. (York Regional Police)

"I hope he gets a good warning and a strong sentence, not because I have it in for him. I don't wish him bad," Rivas said.

"But I have to wish, as I'm using my body and my time to teach people, he has to turn and say, 'I did this to this woman. I did wrong.'"