The 74-year-old woman rescued by Good Samaritans from a robbery and beating in a Midfield store parking lot said she thought her life was about to end.

"I just knew that was it for me,'' said Brenda Stinson. "I just thought I wasn't going to be here no more."

But the feisty Birmingham woman said she wasn't going without a fight.

"I grabbed him between his legs. I grabbed him good between his legs,'' she said. "That's always been my plan because that's a man's weak spot, but I didn't know it was going to come true. I know he's going to be sore."

The incident happened Wednesday morning at the shopping center on Phillips Drive. Stinson said she had bought her groceries at Piggly Wiggly and then gone to next door to buy her medicine at the pharmacy. When she got back to her SUV, the suspect seemingly came out of nowhere.

"I got ready to come to my car and open the door. That's when he grabbed me. He grabbed me so quick,'' she said. "We got to tussling. He was trying to get my money, but I was holding onto my pocket."

Stinson said she never carries a purse and instead keeps her cash in a brown bag tucked in her pocket. She believes the suspect had followed her and watched her in Piggly Wiggly because he knew exactly where to look for the money.

"We tussled about four or five minutes before anybody saw us,'' she said. "He threw me to the ground and I threw my money on the seat in the car."

It was when she landed on the pavement that passers-by saw what was happening. "It just hurt my heart to see that,'' said witness Kimberly Whitehead.

"That's when folks started running toward me,'' Stinson said. "This man came and grabbed him and then he took him and he throwed him to the ground."

The man who thwarted the crime is William Daniels. He said he didn't have time to think or get mad about what he saw. "Who would sit back and watch a criminal beat a lady like that?" Daniels said.

Stinson said her attacker kept yelling that he had AIDS. "He was lying,'' she said. "He thought that man would let him go if he said he had AIDS."

Daniels kept the suspect pinned face down on the ground until Midfield police arrived. Sgt. Jesse Bell said detectives are working to obtain formal warrants against the suspect. He praised the Good Samaritan's actions.

"He was a godsend. We don't know what he would have done had they not been there,'' Bell said. "We're thankful he was there to stop it. We need more community involvement like this."

In addition to slamming Stinson to the ground, she said he also punched her in the face with a closed fist. Paramedics checked her out on the scene, but she told them she believed she was OK. Her blood pressure and sugar checked out fine, and eventually her breathing evened out. "They brought a chair for me to sit in the parking lot,'' she said. "I finally calmed down."

She said her cheek is swollen and she's sore, but nothing was broken. "I'm OK,'' she said. "I'm hoping I'm OK."

She said she hasn't met the man who helped her, but she hopes that will happen. "I need to try to get in touch with him,'' she said, "and let him know I appreciate him.''

Stinson said it's a day she won't soon forget. "I was scared because I thought that was the end of my life,'' she said. "I tell you what, the Lord gave me strength this morning."