NASHUA – David Tucker just wanted to go for a walk and buy a phone card. What he got was a brutal beating that likely blinded him in one eye for life.

Tucker, a 44-year-old furniture mover, went for a walk through downtown June 27 as he often does and stopped at the Walgreens at 283 Main St., to buy a phone card. He left the store shortly after 8 p.m. and remembers being hit hard on the left side of his head from behind.

“I was just walking home and, bang,” he said Friday, two days after being released from the hospital. “I don’t know if they mistook me for someone else or whatever. I was just out for a stroll.”

The next thing he remembers is waking up hours later, in a different state, with doctors and nurses hovering over him concerned about the condition of his brain.

During the intervening time, witnesses called 911 and police responded to the corner of Main and Belmont streets to find Tucker bleeding from the head. He was brought to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center and later transferred to the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass.

He woke up and asked a nurse where he was. She told him about the attack and told him to stay still. Later, he was able to talk to a doctor about his injuries. They are extensive.

Tucker had a concussion, blood around his brain and hemorrhaging in the back of his right eye that damaged his optic nerve, he said. He also had fractures in his temple, eye socket and nose and nerve damage on the right side of his face. At one point doctors thought they were going to need to drill into his skull to relief the pressure the blood was exerting on his brain, he said.

Chances are he will never regain the vision in his right eye. He has a doctor’s appointment this week when he should learn more, he said.

Police have some leads – witnesses were able to provide a decent description of a man seen fleeing from the scene. But Tucker is adding his plea to any witnesses, or anyone at all with information, to come forward.

The suspected assailant was described as standing about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium to large build and short dark hair. He was wearing a white T-shirt and gray and white checkered shorts and white sneakers. He was last seen running north on Elm Street in the back of the Walgreens, police said.

Nashua Police Lt. George McCarthy said police do not think a weapon was used in the beating, but Tucker thinks he was initially hit with a bat. He has four staples holding shut a gash on the left side of his head.

“And they must have kept going, kicking me in the face or something,” he said.

Tucker is at a loss to explain the attack. He said there was no confrontations ahead of time. He hadn’t even talked to anyone nearby. He said he can’t think of anyone that would have a grudge against him. Most of the time during his walks downtown he is greeted with a wave and a “Hey Tucker.”

“I’m just a normal working guy,” Tucker said. “A lot of people in Nashua know me. No enemies.”

The attack has affected Tucker more than just physically. The most violence he’s ever faced, he said, were a couple minor barroom brawls in his youth. He hasn’t seen his three sons, who live with their mother, since the beating.

“They don’t need to see their father like this,” he said.

The pain is excruciating. He’s taking antibiotics, steroids and painkillers and carries the worries about what his life will be like if he doesn’t fully recover.

“Work is questionable right now. I’m disabled,” he said, wiping tears and a trickle of blood that still leaks from his ruined eye. “It’s emotional. I cry in bed sometimes. I can’t believe this happened to me.”

Tucker said he is determined not to be afraid, though. He can’t drive, and he can’t work and, so far, can’t even see the sun out of his right eye, but he will resume his downtown strolls as soon as he’s able.

“I’m not going to live in fear. No way,” he said. “They might have knocked me down, but they won’t keep me down.”

Joseph G. Cote can be reached at 594-6415 or jcote@nashuatelegraph.com.