THE YORKSHIRE Ripper's first victim was an Irish woman, who miraculously survived his attack.
Earlier today, it was announced that serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper, had died in hospital after refusing treatment for Covid-19.
His death at the age of 74 has brought his brutal murders back into the spotlight, and his first victim, attacked in 1975, was an Irish immigrant.
Annie Brosnan was born and raised in Tralee, County Kerry, but moved to Yorkshire at the age of 15.
According to a profile by The Irish Independent, she settled in the town of Keighley with her sister, where she worked as a playing-cards sorter in a factory.
She married an older man, Roman Rogulskyj in 1955, but they divorced 18 years later in 1973, two years before Annie would become Peter Sutcliffe's first victim.
Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, has died in hospitalThe Kerry woman was popular with locals in Keighley, and became known as 'Irish Annie' in the town's pubs and cafés.
It was when she was making her way home from the town on the night of Friday, 4 July 1975 that she was set upon and attacked by the man who would become known as the Yorkshire Ripper.
He grabbed her and beat her to within an inch of her life, eventually leaving her for dead on the streets, but she was found, unconscious and bleeding, by a passing youth.
According to The Irsh Mirror, killer Sutcliffe had beaten her and attempted to slash her stomach, but fled when he was disturbed by a neighbour-- a twist of fate which could have saved Annie's life.
The Tralee native was rushed to hospital with three lacerations to her skull and fractures caused by a heavy instrument, and surgeons performed a 12-hour operation to save her life, in which they removed multiple shards of bone from her brain.
While she survived the ordeal, Annie Brosnan was left psychologically traumatised; she attended the trial of Peter Sutcliffe when he was eventually caught, charged and tried for his crimes.
Sutcliffe was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven more, including Annie Brosnan.
It is thought he killed or attempted to kill more women than he was charged with, however his 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson, Irene RIchardson, Patricia Atkinson, Jayne MacDonald, Jean Jordan, Yvonne Pearson, Helen Rytka, Vera Millward, Josephine Whitaker, Barbara Leach, Marguerite Walls and Jacqueline Hill.
Annie Brosnan sadly passed away in 2008 at the age of 75, but was at least safe in the knowledge her attacker would remain in prison until the day he died.
