GILMORE, Ark. (WREG) -A 79-year-old Crittenden County man is lucky to be alive, after being robbed and beaten Sunday night.
The robbery, which happened outside the victim's house, caused Malcom Markham to lose his sense of security for the first time in his life.
"I didn't even want to go out there and open the door for you [the news reporter] and that`s bad," Markham said.
On Sunday night, a man went to his Gilmore home and said, "I've got $10 here if you take me to get some gas."
Markham, wanting to help, went outside to get in his truck.
"When I put the key in the ignition, someone hit me across the head," Markham recalled.
He was punched, beaten, and stomped on, hit with a 20-gauge shot gun, then robbed.
"It felt like 100 hands were in my pocket," he said.
Inside one of his pockets was a $1,000 he saved for Christmas to give his children.
"Part way my Social Security money," Markham explained. "And I sold sweet potatoes and pecans to get the rest of it."
During the attack, Markham was able to pull off one of the men's masks, and he recognized the man. He had seen him earlier that night down the street.
"He knew where I had my Christmas money because he asked me if I had change for a hundred, and I said yes," Markham said.
Two arrests have been made in Markham's beating.
The arrests were made in Mississippi County, in Northeast Arkansas with Markham's description.
Some people have asked to help Markham, WREG has the contact information to do so.