Vivian Squires is not one to go down without a fight.
Even as the man who savagely attacked the 86-year-old in her Springfield Gardens Home on January 4 – leaving her with deep slashes on her neck and back that required staples and stitches – was arrested, she said that she believes “something good came out of it.”
That “something good,” she said, is the “Gritty Granny Gang,” which she is organizing and set to lead, “to help young, troubled people.”
“My gang is here to help, not hurt,” she explained.
Almost two months to the day after Squires was attacked – and robbed of her cash, jewelry and her car – police arrested Andre Mathis, 33.
He has been charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault, burglary and grand larceny in connection with the assault. According to reports, Mathis has a criminal record that includes sexual assault and drug possession.
He “swung around, ran and jumped on the bed on top of me,” Squires recalled of her ordeal. “He took the pillow and put it over my head, and he took a knife and slashed my throat.
“I felt all the blood. I thought I was dying . . . All I kept saying was, ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.’ And, it’s almost like I felt the power going in all of this fighting. I said, ‘No, Vivian, you haven’t got time to die. You have too much to do.’ So I decided not to die, and I started fighting him.”
She credits her strength and courage to God – and to 21 years of experience as a correction officer, for which she was awarded a certificate for Exceptional Merit on Wednesday, March 4 at graduation and swearing-in ceremonies for 299 new Correction Officers.
“I was an honoree, and I felt very good,” said the humble Squires.
Colleagues say she strived to help others both during her career and afterward. She started a sewing program for female inmates and even staged fashion shows in the Manhattan women’s jail. In retirement, Squires founded a non-profit organization to help place female former inmates in jobs and housing and taught pre-school.
Her life has retuned to normal, she said, noting that she is driving and even back in her home, though she admits there are new locks on the doors and bars on the windows. And she sometimes gets sore and suffers aches and pains.
But, she acknowledged, “If I shrivel up, then he’ll have conquered me. I just have to keep going.”
Still, she says she harbors no ill will toward her assailant, though, given the chance, she would ask Mathis, “Why did you hurt me?”
“I hope he’ll get some help,” Squires told The Courier. “I hope he doesn’t do it to anyone else.”
Her mission in life has always been to “Teach, motivate and encourage others to take the necessary steps to change their thoughts and actions.”
With the Gang, she said, she will be continuing her work.
“She’s something else,” said Reverend Doctor Calvin Rice, Pastor of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, where Squires is a parishioner. “She doesn’t let anything stop her. She’s a celebrity around the church.”
Rice has offered to host the Gritty Granny Gang once it is organized.
In the meantime, Squires is grateful.
“It’s amazing the amount of people who got in touch with me,” she said. “It’s so rewarding all the cards and letters.”
