ATTACKED IN HOSPITAL

Maggie Rastall, 62, survived a sickening ordeal, then the horrors kept coming

- JANE COHEN, LOUISE BATY

As my daughter Emma, then 35, made a cup of tea, I began tidying up the toys scattered around the room. 'Leave that, Mum, the kids will only make a mess again,' Emma laughed.

It's my pleasure,' I replied, and I meant it. Working as a food delivery driver and, before that, a taxi driver for 37 years, I enjoyed doing what I could to make life easier for people. Emma was a mum to 10 children and was expecting another baby with her husband Lee, 40. As he worked long hours, I was always happy to help with the kids, and if I wasn't spending time with her, I was with my son Dewi, 34, and daughter-in-law Elsa, 28.

Family and friends meant everything to me, as well as my husband Karl, then 67. So when a friend was admitted to Glan Clwyd Hospital, in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, in December 2024, me and Karl went to cheer him up. We spent an hour at our friend's bedside before saying our goodbyes.

'Just nipping to the loo,' I told Karl on the way out, as he headed to the men's toilet. The ladies' was empty, and I went into a cubicle. Then I heard the main toilet door creak open and a male voice. Opening the cubicle, I found myself face to face with a man in his 30s, over 6ft and well built. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he clamped a sweaty hand over my mouth.