Alan Barnes fund tops £100,000 after disabled pensioner was attacked outside his home

Katie Cutler, 21, who set up the GoFundMe page, has been 'overwhelmed' by the response

Ms Cutler's page set up for Alan Barnes

Over £100,000 has been raised for the disabled pensioner attacked outside his own home on Sunday.

Alan Barnes, 67, broke his collarbone after he was brutally mugged outside his own in Gateshead.

Mr Barnes, who is visually impaired, was left terrified to return home after the attack.

Katie Cutler, 21, who lives nearby, heard about his attack and was so shocked she set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his move.

Although it only aimed to raise £500 for the pensioner, donations have flooded in and it broke the £100,000 mark early on Saturday afternoon. There have been over 16,000 shares on the page.

There have been over 7,000 individual donations to the page.

Speaking to The Independent, Ms Culter, who works as a beautician, said she was absolutely “overwhelmed” at the reaction.

“It doesn’t really feel real at the moment. I feel so overwhelmed, I have just been inundated with emails and messages - it hasn’t sunk in and I can’t believe how lovely people have been.” she said yesterday.

Mr Barnes, who was born disabled after his mother contracted German measles during her pregnancy, was knocked to the ground by an unknown assailant while he was putting out his rubbish.

The man, who Northumbria police are still attempting to identify, rifled through his pockets before running off after realising the pensioner did not have any cash on him.

Mr Barnes, who is currently being looked after by his sister Carol Hill, said the response was “just unbelievable”.

"I've heard of fundraising for charities but I've only got a fractured collarbone, I didn't expect that sort of response," he told the BBC.

"Thank you doesn't really seem to answer it, does it?"

You can contribute to Mr Barnes's GoFundMe page here.