NEW YORK (AP) — An 89-year-old comedian is recovering after he was randomly punched and knocked to the ground while waiting to cross a street in New York earlier this month.
D’yan Forest said she had just stopped at a coffee shop and was on her way to a swimming pool when someone came up from behind and hit her in the eye. She lay on the ground in shock as police and paramedics came to her aid.
“I thought I lost my eye because I couldn’t see anything,” Forest said. Her vision returned over the next four hours while she underwent tests at a hospital.
Police said Saturday that the female suspect in the July 10 incident had a medium complexion and cornrow braids and was last seen wearing a tank top and shorts with a Jurassic Park logo.
Forest said she has lived in Greenwich Village since 1966 and has never had anything bad happen to her other than watching the September 11 attacks from her roof.
“I now walk through the village and don’t go near anyone. I don’t want to be around anyone,” she said.
Forest holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest working female comedian. She said her first thought after falling to the floor was whether she would be presentable for her July 29 nightclub show.
But she said her eye is healing.
“My eye was completely red and horrible. But at least now I can go on stage without a black eye,” said Forest.