<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" An elderly pensioner has been hailed as a hero after fighting off armed intruders at his home in Australia. Ernie Whitfield, 84, is said to have successfully tackled burglars, despite them being armed with a hammer, metal pole and a knife. The man&amp;#039;s neighbour Judy Hodge told the AAP that it was &amp;quot;beyond wonderful&amp;quot; that he managed to get rid of his attackers. Whitfield was asleep in his Port Macquarie home in New South Wales at around 2am local time on Saturday (November 10), when the burglars broke in. The pair are said to have demanded money from Whitfield&amp;#039;s wallet after they found him in the bedroom, according to police. After one of the intruders struck the pensioner with a metal pole, Whitfield got into a fight with the man holding a knife and a hammer, and was able to break the blade away from the knife. The attacker then attempted to hit him with the hammer, before Whitfield stabbed the man in his stomach. According to his neighbour, the burglar shouted: &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s stabbed me, he&amp;#039;s stabbed me.&amp;quot; &amp;amp;gt; Pensioner foils two armed robbers - video&amp;amp;gt; Burglars flee after finding 14-year-old girl in closet&amp;amp;gt; Subway employee stops robbery by throwing soup Whitfield was next able to disarm the man with the pole, and used it himself against the intruders. The pair were chased away from the home, although they were still able to steal his wallet. Hodge described her neighbour as an &amp;quot;absolute gentleman&amp;quot; and an &amp;quot;absolute sweetie&amp;quot; who prefers to keep himself to himself. &amp;quot;Violence and attacking old people is disgusting,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;If they are going to come near people and do nasty things, they have to be prepared to suffer.&amp;quot; Mr Whitfield was later treated by paramedics at the scene, before being taken to Port Macquarie Hospital for cuts to his head and leg. &amp;quot;I think he&amp;#039;s beyond wonderful for fighting them off,&amp;quot; Ms Hodge added. &amp;quot;I suppose it&amp;#039;s what anyone would do with a knife pointed at them.&amp;quot; The offenders are still at large, and are described as having heavy builds, with both wearing dark hooded jumpers and masks. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/fun/news/a437435/pensioner-wins-fight-against-armed-robbers/>